IN THE LABYRINTH – To Our Rescue (2023, Digital Self-Release)

RELEASE INFO:

Label: Self-Release

Format: Digital

Release Date: 13 Sep 2023

It’s been 5 years since In The Labyrinth’s latest album “Samas Antaral” (check my review here) and finally my anticipation of a new album ended last September, as this exciting experimental psych project from Stockholm led by Peter Lindahl, released their 6th album entitled “To Our Rescue”, a long term project as such with the first recordings dating back to the late 90s and the last ones made in more recent years. “To Our Rescue” is produced, engineered, mixed & mastered by Peter Lindahl in Bromma, Stockholm with co-production credits to Håkan Almkvist. The Art is by Peter & Niklas Lindahl. “To Our Rescue”, contains 15 tracks/compositions with a total running time of 62:12 minutes and as with the previous albums there are quite a few songs running seamlessly without any pause between them to form suits. The opener “Braun Raga” starts with a rather effected intro and before I start, you are advised to check the band’s Bandcamp page by clicking on each song and reading all interesting information related, like for instance who’s sampled voice you’re listening to this first track of the album, “Braun Raga” is a sitar/violin laced raga tune, a remarkable fascinating instrumental that only rises the curiosity about the next. “Sleeping Katla” is an amazing Neo-Proggy-Folkie track, kind of dark, with a groovy mandolin sound, both acoustic and electric instruments are creating a Neo-Prog Goth-like gorgeous environment! Western and Eastern instruments are beautifully blending together with Peter’s interesting lyrics on the self-titled “To Our Rescue”, a mid-tempo Middle Eastern-flirting Neo-Prog-Folk-Rock track that blends with the next track “Ray Of Hope”, Indian tabla, Saz, Oud, Viola, Guitars, and female vocal improvisation are all creating an Arabic kind of Neo-Prog tune! “Sanctus” is a Medieval Prog-ish tune with an obvious religious feel/touch (the music of Sanctus was composed by Stefan Ottman as far back as the early 70s with lyrics partly based on a medieval chant. In 2021 it was finally recorded together with Stefan’s daughter Tuva Wedberg adding her voice as part of the choral arrangement along with Peter) while the following track “The Black Plague” is one of the very best moments of the album, dark and quite gothic scenery with lots of funeral church bells and a tremendous Dead Can Dance atmosphere, a Nosferatu inspired track where Psych meets Dark Wave meets Folk meets Prog meets Goth… Superb! What follows is called “Vegetable Man” (yes Syd’s haunted song), one of the best ever reinterpretations made of that song, you’ll have to listen – and read the info – to check all the incredible things that are happening inside this track… The environment that is created here is also used on the next track “Waiting For A Miracle 1”, a psych folkie tune that could easily be a part of “Vegetable Man”, “Santa’s Gone Fishing” is a cool instrumental with a nostalgic Christmas feeling and a variety of instruments, like sax, mellotron, Celtic harp, ukulele, guitars, violin, and choir voices… “Ukraine Burning” is a sad melancholic and quite sensitive instrumental, the title says it all, so no more comments… Another personal highlight follows, “Mr. Minister” is a marvelous tune that manages in a magnificent and magical way to combine two musical worlds (East and West) under a Neo modern Psych-Prog tribal motive with female vocals and intriguing interesting, and quite hilarious lyrics, it ends with the sound of rain, and under that sound, the next one called “Gondwana” a Neo-Folk acoustic tune with an intense Renaissance feel (thanks to Mantolin and Santur, I suppose), this is a happy instrumental dedicated to the Old Earth hundreds of millions of years before the industrialized world of today… Another highlight comes next… “A Q Blues” shows an astonishing combination of oriental music and West world rock music, a balladesque tune with social-political lyrics, becoming psychedelically trippy in a folkie way though… “Waiting For A Miracle 2” moves under the same path as part 1, but with a more upbeat arrangement with choir vocals, and speech samples, an interesting and quite adventurous track I must add… Eventually, the album comes to an end with “Goa Goodbye”, a sad kind of Raga-ish tune, a fantastic piece of Indian-influenced Sitar music, a somehow “naked” but warm tune, psych-flirting for sure… So, Peter and In The Labyrinth, delivered to the world a fine album, full of music, full of feelings, full of excitement, one of these albums that I like to call “one-sip-swallow” albums, definitely one of the best releases of 2023… Dig it… TimeLord Michalis     

Tracklist

Links:

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