The Void

Beardfish are yet another amazing progressive rock band hailing from Sweden. They have been steadily building an audience throughout the 00’s, and appear to be poised for exposure to larger audiences. Over the years the band have moved into heavier territory (as in metal), but they are still not what I consider a progressive metal band. They remain experimental and are never afraid to explore a myriad of musical pallets over the course of this sprawling disc. The Zappa influence is less and less evident as time goes by, which may put some early fans off, but I can find very little to dislike about this album. It is strong from start to finish with Rikard’s quirky lyrics and over the top vocals leading the charge. Instrumentally these guys are always on top of their game and they pretty much kick ass all the way through this album. If you like really well done modern progressive rock, you should love this album. If you are a fan of early Beardfish, this is a bit heavier, but still very high quality stuff.

As a rule, I reserve 5 stars for albums like "Fragile" and "Houses of the Holy" so this is closer to 4.6, but who's counting. That is to say, as a fellow long time Beardfish fan I differ from many of the dozen or so reviews for the domestic issue of this album (Rule#1: ALWAYS buy the import version over the domestic...) in seeing this album as a welcome growth for the Band instead of lesser than prior efforts.Since "Sleeping in Traffic", this prog outfit has shown new Prog bands can compete with the greatest acts of The Golden Age of Prog and add some new thoughts, as well as pay tribute to pioneers like Mothers of Invention and King Crimson in their instrumental excursions. Currently there are few bands that can swing so effortlessly between funk tinged rock melodies to avant jazz ala Zappa to theatrical complex prog like ELP....too many releases currently seem strained and half hearted efforts like Spock's Beard and The Prog Collective. Beardfish of late seemed to be stuck in a formula rut as well.Maybe it's because I grew up doing duck and cover drills and wondering if we would destroy the World sometime soon that this album really seems cohesive, pointed and more "determined" than prior releases, great though they were. From the opening thunder bursts of "Voluntary Slavery" this is a different prowling growling animal - and I love it. I buy the premise and feel emotionally involved, something often lacking in the head heavy realm of us Prog Heads. Like the first time you heard "War Pigs" or "For Whom the Bell Tolls". It gets better with the attack&stop drum and guitar cadence of "Turn to Gravel" while advancing the story line. This is someplace Beardfish has been building up to over their career, like Opeth and "Blackwater Park".My one complaint with this effort is then the album settles too quickly into familiar Beardfish territory, which features great soaring instrumental runs in tracks like "Seventeen Again" and "He Already Lives in You" which progresses the story line, but quickly ("Note") feels like "Sleeping in Traffic" material and the pace seems to really drop off, not really returning to the initial powerage pace except during "This Matter of Mine", a relentless heavy rock and arpeggio driven piece.Vocals take center on the sweetly melodic and touching "Ludvig & Sverker", but dig the death metalish vocals scattered about - seems to indicate a desire for new ideas in the Beardfish stable.All said, this is a work HIGHLY recommended not just for Prog Heads, but mathcore rockers, metal heads and even classic rock fans. Great introduction to a band with an intensive back catalogue.

I have been a fan of Beardfish since Sleeping In Traffic Part One. Every single one of their albums have been instant classics to my ears. Except for this one. This one took some time but now it is a classic as well. They changed their sound on the first few tracks but after that they fall right back into place. It took a little while to get used to the heavier/darker tracks but now after a several listens they are great tracks. If you like prog you will love this album. Glad I was a first day buyer as always with this band. Hopefully they'll get to tour the states one day!!

I love it. Found the best buy on Amazon. Order came in super fast. Well pleased.

This is really good. It's just an interesting listen. It is not some amazing super original thing, but a guy who just through all his musical ideas into one album. You can tell there's a lot of genuine effort and soul in this. A nice vibe of creativity when you feel like just listening something a tad different.

Beard fish are a fairly new band for me I have not heard much by them so I gave The Void a try. The first song after the intro was quite dramatic in as an intro song it felt quite metally and was driven by some strong bass and groovy playful guitar, and classically 90's metal vocals, with some slightly dodgy growling in it. The band sound like a very experimental band which could be fun. I am aware of the sleeping in the traffic albums, but I don't know them very well.Song 1 voluntary slavery was pretty cool it took a minute or two to get into and has some very cool bass playing that plays off beat to the guitar stabs and the bass tone is nice and fuzzy, The Drums have a very nice right tone on them.Travelling in to turn the gravel the album takes a turn for the groovy with a very groove oriented opening that turns in to an almost mastodon style verse with some arpegiated guitar playing and strings of bass the whole album feel like this very varied in musical ideas I hope the rest of the band is like this, the one thing that feels missing is some kind of melody with in the music itself it is riffs and things but it feels too complicated not to have some kind of keyboard and lead guitar or harmony.OTher than that the album is a solid rock album with lots of character, fun and scientific experiment

The Beardies are back. They are back with a slightly different bang. There is a little less Proggy goodness, slightly more grunt than Mammoth. The usual decent production, stunning musicianship and great song structures are all present like faithful hounds eager to please you, a good example of this is track 7 (Ludvig & Sverker). The usual mucking about with nonsensical instrumentals has sadly not shown up on this offering. I personally hope they are NOT heading away from their proggy roots as this is where they are fivestarworthy.It's a different, less proggy album, but it is still very good. They are still a thumpingly good bunch of tunesters!!

A nice combination of good melodies and (sometimes) heavy metal. At least a record with a lot variety in terms of style and dynamics. If you like Dream Theater but would like something more melodious, less complicated and (so) more relaxing, try this!

Great music/voice. The artwork is not to my liking: where did the bearded fish go? This CD is a grower and needs repeated listens, but this goes for all their output. I still like Destined Solitaire better though.Marcel

J'ai écouté ce CD et tout de suite j'ai accroché, ce qui est rare chez moi. Depuis je l'écoute en boucle et je ne m'en lasse pas. J'aime cette musique, cette voix, ces claviers...Je voudrais simplement dire que même aujourd'hui on peut trouver de la bonne musique, il suffit de chercher. Je remarque aussi que ces groupes nordique sont très bons. Bien sûr il y a toujours nos groupes légendaires , mais il y en a aussi beaucoup à découvrir. Ecoutez ce CD, c'est du pur bonheur. je suis enchantée de l'avoir acheté.