Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Some Of The Best Scandinavian Prog Rock Bands

By Kerri Stout


Prog rock still remains a popular form of rock music with many fans the world over. Some of the best bands in this genre are the Scandinavian prog rock bands. Progressive rock started life in the late 60s with the Beatles Sergeant Pepper' and the psychedelic noodling of early Pink Floyd. Pink Floyd went on to dominate the progressive rock scene in the 1970s along with other bands, such as Yes and Genesis.

Sweden have produce many excellent progressive rock bands, one of the most successful is Beardfish. Beardfish create music that is along the lines of Genesis and Yes, but with a modern take. They formed in 2001 and the band's first album, Fran En Plats Du Ej Kan Se was released in 2003 and achieved much success.

The Flower Kings from Sweden are another fantastic Scandinavian progressive rock band. They were formed in 1994 formed by the renowned guitarist Roine Stolt. The Flower Kings have released 11 albums since their formation. Their music is a blend of jazz, blues and experimental music. They make use of ployrhythms, dynamic changes, heavy bass, lengthy compositions and abstract lyrics.

Norway's Magic Pie blend a 70s sound with contemporary music. The band creates strong melodies, interesting lyrics, powerful vocal arrangements, sparkling guitar riffs, 70s organ hooks, and a solid rhythm section. There music can be soft and gentle or blistering heavy metal. Magic Pie formed in 2005 and have released three albums, with another due in 2014.

Apocalyptica is a Finnish progressive rock band from Helsinki that formed in 1993 and are still going strong. Rather than bass and guitars the band consists of three classically trained cellists and a drummer. This makes their music very unique. They started out as a Metallica covers band, but soon began to create their own style of progressive heavy metal on cellos!

Also from Finland, are Hidria Spacefolk. This fantastic band blend psychedelic space rock with folk music. As well as guitar, bass, keyboards and drums, the band also use cello, violin, flute, didgeridoo, marimba, mandolin, sitar and vibraphone to create their music. The band was formed in 1999 and have released eight albums on an independent label.

Another Helsinki band is Kingson Wall who are influenced by Hendrix, Floyd and Zeppelin. They employ eastern themes, mysticism and psychedelia and create beautiful spacey rock music. They are a cult favorite with prog rock fans and have released three successful albums, numerous mix albums and a live DVD.

The Swedish group, Moon Safari create a neo-classic instrumental sound blended with complex vocal harmonies, which is a vital aspect of their music. Although most of the band's music uses guitars, bass and drums, some of their most memorable tunes are performed acapella. The band experiments with strange time signatures and many of their tunes are longer than 10 minutes. Moon Safari won the ninth annual Independent Music Awards with the Vox Pop vote for the "In the Countryside" album. The band is one to definitely take a listen to.




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