ANTON JOHANSSON'S GALAHAD SUITE — Galahad Suite (review)

ANTON JOHANSSON'S GALAHAD SUITE — Galahad Suite album cover

Album · 2013 · Progressive Metal

3.5/5 · 2013-10-26
Time Signature

The reward...

Genre: progressive metal

Thirty years in the making, Anton Johansson's ”Galahad Suite” finally sees the light of day. Having worked on the concept behind this album since 1982, Anton Johansson, who does not actually perform on this album, has allied himself with a number of strong songwriters and musicians from the Swedish rock scene to form the project named Anton Johansson's Galahad Suite. As the title indicates, the album deals with the quasi-mythical Arthurian character Galahad, and his story is told over a song cycle of ten songs.

Being a concept album that draws on the aesthetics of heavy metal and hard rock, we are essentially dealing with a progressive metal release here. Themes are repeated through out the album, and each track is essentially a movement, with the first track serving as an overture, or prelude, of sorts, and its theme being repeated in the last track. Now you might think that you are in for some complex and epic music akin to Dream Theater's ”A Change of Season” or ”Scenes from a Memory”, but, while the structure of the album in its entirety might be complex, the music itself is by and large pretty straightforward. We are dealing with musc the evolves around rocking riffs combined with softer passages (which in itself makes for interesting album dynamics). We are more in the territory of Queensrÿche and Persona Non Grata (or Rainbow at their most progressive) – that is, very accessible progressive metal which has both commercial appeal and sophistication.

A good example of this is 'Somewhere – The Quest', which combines an uplifting drive (and, frankly, some pretty awesome guitar riffs) with an AOR sensibility and at the same time keyboard figures akin to more Dream Theater-oriented progressive metal. 'Happy – The Incident' features the same type of keyboard, but combines a more funky drive with power metal elements, and the track also features a pulsating atmospheric breakdown. 'Victory – Never Alone' is perhaps the most aggressive track of the album, combining chucking guitar-based verses with melodic choruses, and 'Vision Divine – The End' is a heavy, yet melodic, track which even ventures into epic doom metal territory. So, I mean, there definitely is some quality music on this album, and there is enough variation on it to satisfy me. But at the same time, also taking into consideration how long time it has been in the making, ”Galahad Suite” is underwhelming in certain places, and the listener might not get his or her expectations in terms of epicness fulfilled. I mean, we are dealing with an epic subject matter after all. It does call for grandness and larger-than-life music.

Still, I must say that the production is extremely good. It has a fat bottom and is well balanced with absolutely no trace of tinny elements, and the bass is udible. Another attraction point is the musicianship itself. The album is full of blazing and impressive guitar solos delivered by a range of guest musicians and members of the Galahad-ensemble, and the listener is treated to a bunch of equally impressive keyboard solos. The rhythm section is clockwork solid, too. Rock fans are also bound to enjoy the many awesome rocking riffs found on the album.

We are essentially dealing progressive metal lite in the sense that it has many of the elements of progressive metal, but they are served in moderate portions, making ”Galahad Suite” accessible enough for prog metal noobies. Thus it is a good entry point into progressive metal for the unitiated. At the same time there is enough sophistication that more seasoned progressive metal fans will still find it an enjoyable musical experience.