GÖSTA BERLINGS SAGA

Prog rock's resurgence has spanned more than 30 years, from the first fruits of a rejuvenated scene in the early '90s, to today's peculiar state of affairs wherein rock and metal bands are falling over themselves to proclaim a love of KING CRIMSON and YES. And so they should, because the best progressive rock will make your brain spin.

GÖSTA BERLINGS SAGA have spent the last 25 years in a perpetual state of chameleonic restlessness. From defiantly weird early albums like "Tid är Ljud" and "Glue Works", through to their recent brace of albums with InsideOut Music, nothing about this band suggests that they are inclined to repeat themselves. Last time out, "Konkret Musik" (2020) was a stark and staccato squall of short-form songs with taut grooves and a stoic disregard for self-indulgence. And so, inevitably, "Forever Now" is completely and brilliantly different.

A hi-def magic carpet ride through both familiar and alien realms, the Swedes' seventh studio album is dedicated to establishing moods and then heightening them to the point of explosion. Simultaneously old school and strangely futuristic, these are songs plucked from the ether and fed through GÖSTA BERLINGS SAGA's skewed inspiration machine.

An austere overture that collapses into chaos, "Full Release" is the perfect entry point. It dissolves into "Through The Arches", which clatters along with krautrock vitality, awash with simmering Mellotrons and other arcane synth tones, as a crescendo of brittle guitars and angsty Hammond organ erupts around it. Plaintive, musty organ instrumental "Arrangements" leads into the title track, and GÖSTA BERLINGS SAGA transform into High Priests of Psychedelic Prog. A sprawling, eight-minute epic, "Forever Now" is a magnificent piece of music. It touches upon everything from TANGERINE DREAM's ageless ambience to the tumultuous splendor of French mavericks MAGMA in full flight. Like some somnambulant re-imagining of ZOMBI's "Spirit Animal", it is deeply strange and quite beautiful.

Most of the sounds on "Forever Now" would be hellishly difficult to date, but one obvious concession to the old-school prog gods is that GÖSTA BERLINGS SAGA are blissfully unconcerned about doing the obvious. They switch seamlessly and with ease: from the esoteric, lurching beats of "Fragment II" to the opulent, symphonic prog euphoria of "Ascension", which hurtles along with a very un-prog-like urgency, as gorgeously wonky melodies cascade over electrified beats. Next, "Dog Years" is a master class in sumptuous prog noir, as a gentle downfall of tantalizing vibraphones give way to a wonderfully creepy miasma of arcane keyboard sounds, cowboy guitars and voodoo percussion. With a (possibly accidental) nod to both MR. BUNGLE (circa "Disco Volante") and CARDIACS (if you know, congrats!),"Dog Years" offers a confounding mixture of prettiness and perversity, but with both feet planted squarely in GÖSTA BERLINGS SAGA's self-created world. Lavish finale "Ceremonial" repeats the triumph, with more of that irrepressible energy and multiple, shiny melodic hooks.

GÖSTA BERLINGS SAGA are far too weird to fit into any neat, prog-friendly pigeonhole. "Forever Now" is smart and inventive piece of work that embraces prog's atmospheric depths and has a wonderful time hurling fresh sticks into old-school spokes.