Review: Fanatism - The Future Past

So, here we are....the last post for the foreseeable future...a huge thanks to everyone who has submitted music and especially to all of you who have read my blatherings....but what a way to go out! A wee bit excited about this one....accepted knowledge tells us that some of the best psych music is coming from Sweden these days and the same knowledge tell us that Kungens Män is one of the very best indeed. With this in mind it pretty well makes it a no-brainer that this album from Fanatism is gonna smoke (being as they feature members from Kungens Män, Switch Opens and Automatism!). Add to that the fact that the wonderful Drone Rock Records are releasing it then...well, you do the math! However, I would just add this...although this band has a rich musical heritage between them, I would urge you to forget this as 'The Future Past' is not just a 'Kungens Män offshoot project'...it is a fully rounded entity all of its own..Likewise Fanatism, I sincerely hope, will be spoken about on their own terms....this is a fine, fine album.

The album opens in the best possible way with 'När man allting sett'...pulsing bass line and motorik drums creating a laid back krautrock feel over which some groove laden guitar imbues the track with some funky psychedelic vibes. As the track slowly unfurls the guitar becomes more and more the focus of things whether it be echo laden psych, more fuzzy, almost stoner, rock or even some proggy interludes. Throughout that rhythm section keeps strict time and provides a solid framework around which the guitars can weave their magic....absolutely storming track. 'Shiv-Li-Yeah' opens with an eastern motif that gives things a languid exotic air. Things get a great deal fuzzier as the track progresses and it all harks back to the giddy seventies and the explosion of all things fuzzy, but it manages to retain a definite krautrock edge to it. With a title like 'Quantum Fuzz' one would expect something heavy, almost doomy, but instead we get a beautiful piece of recognisably Swedish psych with, initially, a hint of folk in its structure. A reverential nod to spiritual forefathers International Harvester and Träd, Gräs & Stenar for the most part but scattered with tracts of heaviness that sits nicely within the track's title. Oh, and the skronky sax that appears is an absolute pleasure; unexpected and giving things a real experimental edge. 'Upon The Cross' is fucking huge....hi-octane from the get-go with a thick layer of glorious fuzz, it is hard, heavy and exhilarating. 'Tiden Rinner' opens with tinkling bells and angelic voices before the bass sets up a slow but steady rhythm. It is a track that could quite easily fit into a seventies film score with those choral vocals and laid back vibes........and when the whistling enters that pretty much seals the deal....very Morricone, very Frizzi, and very, very good! 'Nackögon' continues the feel good vibe with a track that is relaxed but with a real funkiness about it and an underlying layer of fuzz while 'One Of Us Can Not Be Me' sees things back in motorik territory. It has that same feel about it as The Myrrors seem to be able to create but with a definite krautrock bent. Album closer 'The Future Past' is a complete curveball....a track that is almost synthwave in sound, packed with eighties synths and Kraftwerk rhythms....if John Carpenter were Swedish then this is what he would be producing. My only gripe...and it's a small one, is that the sax cameo is a bit 'yacht rock' but you know....it's all so good I'll overlook it! It's a wonderful track that is so different from the previous tracks but it somehow works and could be seen as a natural extension to the motorik vibes that have preceded.

'The Future Past' threw me at first for the very reason I mentioned in the intro...I was expecting something along the lines of Kungens Män but, to reiterate, this is an album all of its own and a damn good one at that. The variety contained within makes it a real smorgasbord of delights...the way it trips from motorik based krautrock to more pastoral psych and finishing with some retro synth sounds is truly wonderful and goes to make this an album of many dimensions... a trait that is sadly missing in so much music these days. To use a well-worn cliche...it is an album that keeps on giving; after many run-throughs I am still discovering little facets and nuances to the music...a sign of an accomplished album made by accomplished musicians. Pretty damned essential I would say. 'The Future Past' is up for pre-order on the Drone Rocks webstore here and comes as a special edition (pressed on clear heavyweight vinyl with black stripe effect) or regular edition (classic black heavyweight vinyl).