Moon Safari - Himlabacken Vol. 2 (2023)

70 minutes of no nonsense Symphonic Prog bursting with vocal harmonies, explosive guitars, huge melodies and romantic lyrics.

MOON SAFARI ten years to have the sequel to 'Himlabacken' they released their 5th opus with Moog, angry guitars and heavy rhythm from the 80s of the prog metal movement.

"198X (Heaven Hill)" what the intro of 'Jump'... well almost, nevertheless an energetic intro which surprises and you need the vocals to feel the Yessian hints; melodic, fresh, airy title, catchy choirs and beautiful modern opening. "Between the Devil and Me" aerial, intimate, latent, prog intro; Mikael's drums put things in order, the title reminding me of TOTO; a cheerful Scandinavian AOR prog in fact, not a prog in the vein of a FLOWER KINGS no wonder that Tomas their keyboardist followed them; final return more prog metal with a good riff and the enjoyable guitar solo on fat synths, confusion and musical clarity. "Emma, Come On" on a JETHRO TULL, a MAGELLAN, a boosted YES, a MOON SAFARI whatever; short title nervous and showing their pleasure of meeting again. "A Lifetime to Learn How to Love" intimate melodic tune for a symphonic rise culminating halfway with Mikael's explosive rap; the melody is intended to be grandiloquent, an immersion in vintage prog without the heavy reminiscences of the 'déjà vu' genre, here it is the opportunity to start with grandiose, quite metallic tunes which give the pep like the Gilmourian solo of Pontus. "Beyond the Blue" short title, symphonic interlude to be taken as an anthem with choirs of eunuchs or angels and rolling drums, wonderful, introducing "Blood Moon" returning to a radio rock edit, understand a cheerful title, played easily, the recording is of high quality; fresh sounds, on YOSO from the 90s, bouncy, the thing where there is nothing to throw away, an air of something already heard too.

"Teen Angel Meets the Apocalypse" settle in; the prog title without a doubt; there it is reminiscent of FLOWER KINGS plus symphonic prog, opera in the distance for the expressive choirs; a slow scroll of notes, breaks and other drawers giving pride of place to the musicians' instrumentation with this baroque intro and this solo that the great Yngwie would have loved to do; the most this dithyrambic nine-minute break which starts with a crazy Neal MORSE, with a heavy riff; difficult to translate given the mergers, here's THE BEATLES, here's ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA, here's YES again, the BUGGLES, it's up to you to dive in; Be careful, I'm talking about musical overtones, but it's really a big MOON SAFARI playing here. "Forever, for You" acoustic guitar-piano before going on an attractive ballad with grandiloquent choirs and intense orchestration including an expressive sax; the good side is that it is attractive without pause, without this liability that many current groups have to overplay endlessly, causing any weariness; nay here, to their credit. "Epilog" with church organ for the solemn hymn and crystal clear acoustics to close.