Undalathund - Undulathund vinyl lp (due to size and weight, this price for the USA only. Outside of the USA, the price will be adjusted as needed)
SKU
URSKOGLP 01
Olle Wahlström: Guitar
Simon Ström: Bass
Natanael Salomonsson: Drums
Anna Siri Jonsson: Saxophone
Simon Wallin: Keyboards
Debut album from a new Swedish progressive / psychedelic quintet, whose vinyl-only release consists of three lengthy tracks.
“I’ll readily agree that neither the world nor the European heavy underground portion of it are short on instrumentalist heavy psychedelia. Jammers be jamming, in a variety of ways and all over the place. This is a good thing. Undulathund, from Malmö, Sweden, indeed slot themselves into the busy sphere of sans-vocals heavy psych, but their self-titled debut album on Urskog Records paints a different picture than much of whoever they might be lumped into the same category with, distinguished throughout by multiple facets of their approach, whether it’s the rampant classic progressivism of their flow across three extended tracks — “Den Gode” (11:54), “Den Onde” (16:14) and “Den Gonde” (9:18) — or arrangements with sax and keys/organ alongside guitar, bass and drums, or the very-definitely-plotted nature of their progressions, the way they dig in and time seems to stretch so that the 11-plus minutes of “Den Gode” are immersive and able to carry the listener from one end of the song to the other, generating both trust and engagement.
That’s a long-ass sentence, but take it to mean there’s plenty distinguishing Undulathund and their debut album, and more in terms of sound and the listening experience than on paper.
The band is comprised of guitarist Olle Wahlström, bassist Simon Ström, drummer Natanael Risenfors, saxophonist Anna Siri Jonssonand organist Simon Wallin, and they recorded Undulathund in one day, Jan. 13, 2024, which means that at least most of it was done live, if not all, and probably all given the band’s construction and the instrumentalist intent toward building and displaying chemistry that’s suited to a piece like “Den Gode,” which starts quietly enough but within the first three minutes has already shifted from mellow guitar to incorporate the keys and the sax, touching on classic progressive rock without commiting to copy its methods at the sacrifice of individuality.
That is to say, Undulathund as a unit aren’t just prog anymore than they’re just psychedelic, but they are expansive and mindful, and that helps form the core impression their first album together makes, whether it’s the syncronized ba, da-ba rounding measures in the chorus part in “Den Gode” about 4:45 in, or the takeoff into heavier and moodier vibes that unfolds over the opener’s back half. Chemistry isn’t in question, but they’re not just showing off instrumentalist dynamic. They’re working toward a unified purpose.” - The Obelisk