In their early years, Kaipa was one of Sweden's best Symphonic Prog bands. Roine Stolt from The Flower Kings was a member of Kaipa. Their albums contain mostly instrumental music, drawing its influences from classic progressive Rock bands (Camel, Yes, Genesis), Classical music (Bach), and also Swedish Folk music. The Decca Years is a compilation of the three first albums from Kaipa, released under the Decca label during the years of 1975 to 1978. It also includes a demo which was previously unreleased, and a previously unreleased live set.

The song that went around the world has, like its story, long ago become a legend, and several times the subject of film plots. A cloth from which dreams are cut: One was named Betty, was called Lili and worked in a vegetable cellar. The other was a nurse and was named Marleen. The young soldier, who had to stand watch at the army base, loved them both. So much, that he immortalized them in a poem, in which both girls into merged one figure: Lili Marleen. A quarter century later the song became a hit that was sent nightly into the ether from a German soldiers’ radio station in Belgrade, overnight beginning its triumphant advance around the world.

Produced by Gene Walker and mixed by Andy Wallace and Dan Malsch, GHOST's sixth psalm, Skelet?, is its most unflinchingly introspective work to date. Where previous albums dealt largely with chronicling and/or observing outward facing subject matter - such as IMPERA's meditations on the rise and fall of empires and its predecessor Prequelle's evocations of the ravages of era-defining plagues - Skelet?'s lyrics render the distinct individual emotional vistas of each of its 10 songs in one-on-one fashion, at times as if in a dialogue with oneself in a mirror. The end result is a singular collection of timeless, universal sentiments, all filtered through a prism of a uniquely personal point of view.

After concluding their successful co-headline tour through North America, progressive metal legends Opeth finally release "In Cauda Venenum (Extended Edition)". This special edition, available on digipack, contains the English and Swedish versions of Opeth’s latest album "In Cauda Venenum" with new illustrations by internationally renowned Travis Smith in the booklet. In addition, there is also a third CD including 3 unreleased bonus tracks, both in English and Swedish.
In interviews before the release of In Cauda Venenum, Mikael Åkerfeldt, Opeth's vocalist, guitarist, and chief songwriter, stated that "heaviness" was an aesthetic rather than a sound, to explain why he had abandoned death metal. Beginning with 2011's Heritage, Opeth made a conscious shift toward progressive rock that has, as evidenced here, become pervasive…

The only, eponymous album of this Fantastic Swedish quartet was released by Sonet Records in 1974 and is often considered as one of the very best Swedish records of mid-70’s era. Saga were formed by Christer Stålbrandt (the leader of great, heavy progressive band November) and represented a further development of the style prevalent on 2nd and 3rd November albums. The new band had an expanded range of instruments (including cello, piano and soprano sax) and more accomplished compositions (with great results), although it was still guitar-based, raw and very intense heavy progressive music (sung in Swedish). This CD edition has been carefully remastered from original, analogue source and sounds better than ever!

The legendary Kultivator LP was released in 1981. This release has rightly gained itself a good reputation for its unusual mixing of Zeuhl and Canterbury elements, as well as Swedish folk! The bass and drums churn in the background, setting up Zeuhl-inspired rhythms, while the organ and electric piano, along with the worldleess female vocals definitely strike up a serious Canterbury flavor. Kultivator's musical influences: Magma, King Crimson, Hatfield and the North, Henry Cow, Art Bears, Gentle Giant, Art Zoyd and Univers Zero. This new version includes 7 bonus tracks on the second CD.

Swedish psychedelic rock turned cross-culture folk-rock and jamming band. They were formed in 1970 and took their name from one of Sweden's highest mountains. Some members previously played in the bands Baby Grandmothers and Mecki Mark Men. Key stylists in the band are: Kenny Håkansson (guitarist also known on a few Bo Hansson albums) and Mats Glenngård (violinist and second guitarist). By the end of the 70's, and after a slow disintegration of the band, they more or less successfully tried their hands at symphonic rock and then disappeared. After 31 years the leaders of Swedish Folk Prog returns and except for the more modern sound quality, they really haven't changed a bit in sound! The songs from this album wouldn't have been a bit out of place on their second or third album.

In the music of Forndom, the past breathes with a vitality that transcends time. “Moþir” is as complex as the deities it portrays, weaving together themes of fertility and loyalty, love and betrayal, light and shadow. It is an exploration of divine ambiguity, where the nurturing embrace of a mother can just as easily turn into the cold hand of inevitability.
Here, Ludvig Swärd strips away the modern trappings of synthesisers, embracing a purely acoustic sound. The music feels as though it has been carved from the very earth, born from instruments fashioned by hand and played with reverence for the ancient…

Med musikalisk mångfald och sprakande energi möter du Arvingarna på deras allra första egna Julturné, ”Klart det ska bil Jul”!

Tramseböx (1975). Debut album from Swedish psych/prog band. 9 tracks of ambitious, spooky 1970s psychedelia with atmospheric and cosmic sounds. With Swedish lyrics and focus on guitars, that are often quite fuzzed out. Compared to their 2nd album, "Gudang Garam", this is more in the direction of hippie psych, at times reminiscent of both Älgarnas Trädgård as well as Träd, Gräs & Stenar. Even seen them being compared to Kennelmus and Bent Wwind. The sound have been cleaned up from the mastertape. First time on CD…

The Last Will And Testament (CD jewel case) "The Last Will and Testament" is a concept record of sorts. A restless musical journey in a way mirroring my own relationship with music as a consumer of it," narrates band leader Mikael Åkerfeldt. "I pick up something here, dismiss something there. I worship and I hate music at the same time. This ambivalence leads me down some type of creative path of my own and then, all of a sudden, a collection of songs has been written. Best case scenario, these songs are good enough to impress the band. Good enough for the "powers that be" in terms of the industry. Good enough for "you"?! I love this record. I have to say it (write it). Maybe I'm proud even? There are some familiar ingredients in there I suppose. Most of our music has sprung from the same source, so I guess it's not much of a shocker if it's going to sound like "us". I'm a bit in awe of what we did with "The Last Will and Testament". It feels like a dream. There is some "coherence" and " songwriting skills" I hope, but what do I know? I tend to favour the "strange" over the "obvious", but I feel like I'm in the minority, and that's fine. So… fair warning! Don't expect an instant rush (as per usual), but if you do "get it" (have you got it yet?) right away, that's ok too!"

Advent and Christmas are for many people a time for light and hope and warmth. Yet the world around us is cold and turbulent. Wars are being fought. People are fleeing from their homes. Children are dying. Thousands of people lack food and medicine. Our prayers are for peace. We sing "Beautiful is our Earth! Glorious is God’s heaven!" as a protest song for peace and justice, the world being unjust.

The celebration of YULE in Northern Europe harks back to a transition from ancient Pagan Germanic culture to the more formal spirituality of the newer Christian rite. Christmas, as we mostly now call it, gave us hymns, processions and chants, and in between, silence in church. Yule meant a vibrant pre-Christian secularity, with feasting and dancing, the noise of instruments and decorating the house with holly, ivy and mistletoe as a tribute to the gods of earth and air. Much of the music on this album dates from an earlier time when in a throwback to Yule churches were decorated with Christmas greenery, and at home there would be carols sung round a burning Yule log, the two traditions side by side. But the songs on this album are contemporary performances, a matrix where acappella voices meet improvising instruments in a synthesis of secular and sacred.

Winter Stories" is an atmospheric collection of winter soundscapes full of atmospheric beauty and inner contemplation. Jacob Karlzon succeeds in bringing the cold of the Scandinavian winter to life with just his imagination and the Steinway D grand piano. His consistently naturalistic approach and impressive dynamic range brilliantly capture an emotional season characterized by isolation, contemplation and melancholy. The pianist from Sweden interprets songs that have a specific connection to winter and Christmas - including "Silent Night" and "A Child Is Born" - as well as music that evokes similar feelings. The highlights of the album include Karlzon's own composition "Winterballad", the traditional English Christmas carol "The First Noël" and Taylor Swift's contemplative ballad "Evermore".

The reversed version of her last album EYEYE.