Necromonkey - The Albums Collection (2013-2015)

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Necromonkey - The Albums Collection (2013-2015)

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Necromonkey is the collaboration between drummer Mattias Olsson who was part of the founding members of swedish band Änglagård, of which he left in 2012, and keyboardist David Lundberg from Gösta Berlings Saga. The two first met in 2008 while working on Gösta Berlings Saga's second album Detta har hänt and thought about working together. 2010 saw the begining of the writing and recording for their first album Necroplex in Olsson's Roth-Händle studios in Stockholm. Their vision was not about making an Änglagård meets Gösta Berlings Saga kind of album but instead focusing on something new which will reflect everything they love in music. Necroplex was released in 2013 and showed how fertile this duo is, making an album deeply rooted in modern electronic but still incorporates a huge amount of acoustic and electric instruments. Olsson and Lundberg both handle most of the instruments, aided by a big line up of session musicians. The two didn't wait long before releasing a second album, A Glimpse Of Possible Endings is already finished and due to be released in 2014. Although the music is based around modern electronic it is still very eclectic and goes beyond that, mixing symphonic and post rock elements while using a huge array of acoustic instruments which are an integral and vital part of their music, and the thing that makes the music so alive, fresh and most of all progressive.

~ Prog Archives

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Necromonkey - The Albums Collection (2013-2015)

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Necromonkey is the collaboration between Mattias Olsson who is the drummer from the much appreciated band Änglagård, and keyboardist David Lundberg who you know from Gösta Berlings Saga, so it's not so surprising when the two also seem to collaborate on each other's bands lately. But please forget anything you know from the those two bands and set your mind to something completely and entirely different, this album marks one end of the eclectic prog genre as it combines a few elements from prog electronic, symphonic and post rock. Their mixing of styles, ideas and sound is something I haven't heard yet, mixing together modern technology with vintage and acoustic equipment, giving the album an exhilarating, interesting and varied sound. But don't expect any electronic experimentation or trippy ambienty stuff like in the 70's electronic albums, this is quite different, very upbeat and energetic. The music incorporates a lot of layers and all kinds of sounds from clarinets, guitars, cellos violins, piano and trumpets to a big arsenal of keyboards like mellotron, synths, drum machine and more, so there's a lot to pay attention to, a lot of details are hidden inside that big mix or just flying all over the place. Olsson and Lundberg handle most of the instruments, but there's also a good line up of other musicians who contributes on the acoustic instruments. Although there's a use of vintage keyboards the overall sound is very fresh and modern, including Olsson's drums which are not trying to sound live but instead heavily effected, which of course suits the music perfectly and gives it a very modern, new, challenging and fresh sound, and this is aside from the drum machine involved, so as it turnes out every track here enjoys a different drums sound and sometimes a few different sound within one song, very cool!.

Necroplex has a very natural and easy flow thanks to the effective arranging of the tracks. I think what makes this album a real winner is that perfect balance between new electronic sounds and vintage or acoustic instruments. The main and longer tracks are seperated by shorter tracks which are completely acoustic and helps the flow of the album and the overall varied sound. For example "Small Rome" sounds like a modern classical piece played by piano, cello and keys. "Empty Traps And Nightfall" is a beautiful fretless bass interlude with some noises behind and "Spoken" is an enjoyable narration over a weird combination of a trippy distorted piano and a rusty jukebox playing a dixieland jazz tune, I love those sounds! The other more electronic tracks are very progressive as well, they change and evolve from one minute to the next incorporating million of sounds, noises and different melodies. This is also the place to comment on Lundberg's exquisite and masterful keyboard work, which is so varied and engaging. An outstanding work of bringing all kinds of different sounds and putting them together, each in his right place and on top of that coming with beautiful melodies and themes. There's also some tasteful guitars added by no other than Einar Baldursson also from Gosta Berlings Saga, only this time his adding some colors to the picture or playing all kinds of leads and fillers, he is the one responsible for that post rock feel that the music has, so don't expect any wild solos that he is so known for.

Every track is very different from the other so the album actually works better as a whole, but still I can name a few highlights. "Every Dead Indian" is an 8 minute track which demonstrates all the great aspects of the duo. The song is divided in two, the first part is an upbeat modern psychedelic theme led by a prominent violin and all kinds of keyboard sounds, it then breaks into the second part which is very relaxed including a beautiful calrinet, excellent stuff! And check out the super cool "The Utopian And The Teaspoon" with its driving rhythm and uplifting horns theme adding trumpets, guitars and other sounds to the mix, I love cranking this one up.

So if you're already a fan of these guys here is a chance to see how eclectic and unusual they can get, pushing the boundaries of prog rock just a little more. I usually don't go for albums like this but boy am I glad I did this time! I can recommend this album to anyone who wishes to broaden his horizons and open up to something different and adventurous. 4.5 stars and very close to the fifth star. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

~ Sagi Tchamani, Prog Archives

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Cardboard CD with an OBI-like paper strip wrapped around the cardboard. Includes only a piece of paper telling a bit about the band's tour. Limited, hand-numbered edition of 151 copies.

Booklet information

I've been entrusted by the band to write something about the US Tour and the recordings that will be released from those concerts. We live in a time where everything you see is retouched, made up, rigged and fixed. In all the pictures we see the edges are smudged, the colours augmented and the legs are longer, the breasts are bigger and the men are always silent. Reality isn't that good.

These are finger-paint recordings. Broad strokes and primary colours crashing bluntly into each other. We couldn't clean it up even if we wanted too. There isn't a fixed tempo and in many songs not a fixed arrangement. We have a rough idea of how the thing starts and how it ends but large chunks of the middle is a bit mushy, possibly organic, environmentally unstable being that is hard to figure out or to understand. A bit like the middle part of a Big Mac. Who knows what's in the middle? And do we really want to take it apart?

To us this is the real meaning of a live recording. A blurry loud snapshot of a band on the move. No second chances or touch ups. It has fairly little to do with what we have recorded in the studio. There are guidelines and basic structures. But like superglue the real magic happens when it comes in contact with air in front of an audience. We have included songs on these albums that aren't even out yet. We are working on them as I write this and they will be released in a studio version later on. Oddly enough the prerecorded studioversions have changed after playing the songs live. We have felt the need to include parts that were made up on the tour.

Another reason for releasing these recordings is to share these concerts with our friends who for different reasons couldn't make it to 'Pianos or New Jersey' or 'North Carolina'. Here is a second chance.

Even if we haven't been able to do all that much cleaning Chris Cline has done his out most to master this unruly sonic beast. Taming noise, learning it tricks and then releasing it in glorious stereo.

Our tourmanager/live engineer Brandt Dettling has been a life saver on this tour. A mix between your favorite concierge, a blind hitman and Yanni Alexis Mardas. He made sure we were four at the beginning of the day and four at the end. And he made us sound louder and wider whilst doing it.

…and to push the fingerpainting analogy even further. The cover you are holding in your hand is handmade by our comrade in style, Henning Lindahl. Like the eleven-fingered waiter Khan he has touched every single one of them with his own hands.

This recording is not the full story of Necromonkeys East coast tour but its a loud post card from a stop on the way. We sincerely hope that you will enjoy it. Thank you for listening.

Mattias Olsson, Stockholm, 19th October 2014

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Swedish project Necromonkey combines the talents of composers and musicians Mattias Olsson and David Lundberg, with backgrounds from the bands Anglagard and Gosta Berlings Saga respectively. They have recorded one live album and two studio productions to date. "A Glimpse of Possible Endings" is the most recent of the latter, and was released through the band's own 'label' Roth Handle Recordings in 2014. Necromonkey as of 2014 comes across as an entity fond of exploring experimental music that pairs of delicate, acoustic instrument motifs with subtly twisted and distorted effects produced by electronics, synthesizers and keyboards, with an additional affection for vintage keyboard sounds and layered, Mellotron-driven majestic soundscapes, highlighted in the second half of this production. An album that merits a check by those fond of experimental instrumental music that defies common boundaries, has a heart in progressive rock, uses plenty of challenging sounds and effects, but in a total package that comes across as generally appealing and relatively easy both on the mind and ears. I'd suggest that ardent Mellotron and Chamberlin fans should be regarded as a key audience.

~ Olav Martin Bjørnsen, Prog Archives

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On the 30th of January 2015 we played a concert at Stockholm club Fly Interzone’s tenth anniversary at the legendary venue Fylkingen. The club’s profile is to play Kraut, Psych and Synth. So in honour of our friends Ulrika and Henning (who run the club) we decided to create an entirely new liveset for this special occasion. There would be no Drums, no Fender Rhodes and no distorted Rickenbacker Bass. Instead we would base the whole liveset around drummachines and synths, preferrably Modular synths. It was very interesting (and slightly frightening) to see how we could transform the material into this new musical setting. And to our surprise it was also very liberating to take the tracks apart and piece them back together again without any consideration to the "original" versions. After we had done the gig we decided it would be a waste not to document these completely new versions. We made a conscious decision not to augment the liveset but keep the recording close to what happened that night at Fylkingen. You are now holding the result in your hands. In the early months of 2015 Necromonkey sounded like this, we might not sound like that now but it has changed us forever.

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