There are countless albums of 'The Flower Kings' since the mid-90s and the Swedes have become an essential group by perpetuating a progressive rock with accents of that of the 70s but without ever plagiarizing the great formations of the time and with of course a modern sound. This year end 2019 saw the release of their latest baby, 'Waiting For Miracles' which is a double CD for almost an hour and a half of music. To tell you the truth, I hadn't enter in 'Manifesto Of An Alchemist' released in 2018, but the least we can say is that this 'Waiting For Miracles' turns after a few plays into 'Miracles Took Places' because each composition takes us on a patchwork of different atmospheres filled with creativity and originality, with an extraordinary density in each title.
From the start, after the short instrumental introduction 'House of Cards' in a classical register in which the piano is the central instrument, 'Black Flag' offers us a first long development with the best of a symphonic progressive which get lost in a maze of marvelous vocal and instrumental arrangements with multiple influences, then the two longest titles of nearly 10 minutes 'Miracles for America' and 'Vertigo' prolong this pleasure and each new listening reveals a hidden corner from previous listening. Follows 'The Bridge' which is very well placed to allow us to catch our breath after this intense start and which offers us a calm and refined composition more accessible with a magnificent instrumental section in 2nd part of the title, then, 'Ascending to the Stars' is another highlight that shows us the talent of composer of 'Zach Kamins' in a style mixing classical and contemporary music. The album continues with a more conventional 'Wicked Old Wymphony' (compared to the rest but which is no less remarkable), then 'The Rebel Circus' which brings us back to the album cover and which is entirely instrumental, mixing jazz and rock with a guitar solo worthy of a 'Carlos Santana'. Change of atmosphere with 'Sleep With The Enemy' which is more tormented and filled with an extraordinary tension which makes for me the most intense song of the album, then the first CD ends on a melancholic 'The Crowning Of Greed 'with a memorable melody. Change of atmosphere with 'Sleep With The Enemy' which is more tormented and filled with an extraordinary tension which makes for me the most intense song of the album, then the first CD ends on a melancholic 'The Crowning Of Greed 'with a memorable melody. Regarding the second CD, it begins with a slightly more muscular resumption of the introduction of the first 'House Of Cards' and includes 4 titles certainly less essential than those of the first CD: the psychedelic instrumental 'Spirals' in crescendo and decrescendo which appears more like musical experimentation, a joyful 'Steampunk' with a juxtaposition of different soundscapes then the exotic 'We Were Always There' which precedes the last and short 'Busking At Brobank'
In summary, this 'Waiting For Miracles' is another album to add to the ideal music collection of any amateur and progressive rock fan of the 70s and 80s and shows that the Swedes of 'The Flower King' continue to enchant with quality compositions thanks to a constantly renewed creativity... | |
