Search - Sinkadus :: Aurum Nostrum

2 1/2 stars: neither good nor bad.

Paul Byrne | London, England | 09/18/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Sinkadus are a Swedish six piece band playing progressive rock much in the vien of their illustrious countrymen Anglagard. That is to say their influences are mainly the early Seventies (Genesis, Yes, King Crimson) tempered with the dark angularity found not only in Anglagard, but other Swedish contemporaries such as Anekdoten and Landberk.
Now their detractors have said that Sinkadus are nothing more than an unimaginative, derivative, copy of Anglagard, while their champions would have us believe that they are the natural successors to Anglagard's greatness. Well, they are neither as bad, nor as good, as either of these camps make out, at least on the evidence of their debut release.
'Aurum Nostrum' comprises 4 lengthy songs varying between 10 and 18 minutes. As you would expect from their influences, there's plenty of mellotron, hammond organ, acoustic and electric guitars, and the flute is used extensively. They also use a cello to good effect. The songs are mainly instrumental, and there is nothing much to distinguish one from the other. Overall, the tone of the album is rather mellow.
Comparisons with Anglagard are inevitable, so while Anglagard were possessed of fantastic songwriting, tremendous dynamism and wonderful, memorable melodies, 'Aurum Nostrum' displays none of these qualities. Their compostions are pleasant enough to listen to, but neither strong or memorable. I've listened to the album several times, and been neither bored nor excited while listening.
Perhaps the biggest problem lies in the flat and uninspired production. This kind of material would be vastly improved by guitars that howl and not whine, and by keyboards that are bombastic rather than polite. The delivery is simply not forceful or energetic enough, although this is a mistake that would be remedied on their much better second album, 'Cirkus'."

I can understand the criticisms, but it's not bad

BENJAMIN MILER | Veneta, Oregon | 11/03/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After Änglagård broke up following the release of Epilog (another fantastic album, which is a no-brainer, if you like Hybris, you'll like this), and their performance at Progfest '94 (which was documented on their CD Buried Alive, released two years later), in comes Sinkadus. The band already formed at the beginning of the '90s before even Änglagård, but nothing came to be until late 1996, when they recorded Aurum Nostrum (although I'm not certain if this got released at the end of '96 or beginning of '97). They were hailed as the second-coming of Änglagård, because people were rightfully disappointed that the band was no more. But then people discovered that was a bit of an overexaggeration, and they didn't quite live up to their expectations. For my point of view, it's probably really a bit too much to ask of another band in the 1990s to be able to reach the heights of the mighty Änglagård.



With Aurum Nostrum, it is not a bad album, and in my opinion, if it just had a bit more punch, then they could be the finest thing to come since Änglagård! I almost call this Änglagård-lite. Sinkadus featured a similar lineup, keyboards, guitar, bass, and drums, including a lady who handles flute, very much the same as Anna Holmgren. But there's one major difference, the band included a second lady to handle the cello (an idea borrowed from Anekdoten). The band included bassist/guitarist/vocalist Rickard Biström, drummer Mats Svensson, keyboardist Fredrik Karlsson, guitarist Robert Sjöback, flautist/vocalist Linda Johansson, and cellist Lena Pettersson. It's pretty obvious that Mats Svensson's drumming was highly influenced by Mattias Olsson, while Fredrik Karlsson pretty much ran off with the exact same idea as Thomas Johnson: do not touch digital keyboards and stick strictly to Hammond organ, Mellotron, and other analog keyboards (including a Solina string synth). So those not keen on neo-prog, like Marillion and similar bands, should relax, because it's that same retro approach that Änglagård did not too long before. I was happy for this short-lived retro-prog movement, because it really gave people hope again for prog rock, who thought the neo-prog scene was just too synthetic and plastic-sounding (which didn't help matters any when these groups tended to prefer digital and modern synths, and tended to avoid the Hammond organ, and Mellotron, although IQ actually did use Mellotron). There are also many similarities of Sinkadus to Änglagård: the band would play one thing, and then move onto the next thing within a couple of minutes, but the band really lacked the dynamics of Änglagård, you don't quite get those mindblowingly loud and aggressive passages, and the softer passages just aren't as up to par as the band they're frequently compared to. Sinkadus tended to use more vocals than Änglagård, this time the advantage of both male and female vocals, both Rickard Biström and Linda Johansson handle vocals, and while Swedish never works too well in a prog setting, the vocals are definately better than Tord Lindman's.



But regardless of some of the shortcomings, I really appreciate the analog, retro approach of this group, and there are plenty of excellent passages, but none of this would make Änglagård jealous. Honestly, another group similar to Sinkadus I prefer is Wobbler, from Norway, who, in 2005, released a CD called Hinterland, because they have a more aggressive, edgier approach, plus the same retro, no keyboards after 1975 policy as Sinkadus (and of course Änglagård). I understand the next Sinkadus studio album, Cirkus is supposedly a better album, which I'll find out when I get a copy. I wouldn't call Aurum Nostrum a must-have, so don't put it high on your list, but it still is a worthwhile album."

A FAIR AMOUNT OF MEANDERING!

M. Harris | BRIGHTON, EAST SUSSEX United Kingdom | 02/16/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Sinkadus are similar to Landberk and Anglelard in that they seem to take forever to get anywhere and when they do you wonder why they took eighteen minutes to get there. I love Scandinavian prog but this sort of stuff is a bit of a non event. There is just no excitement involved. It is neither good or bad and i don't regret buying it, but it's one of those albums which makes fair background music. They seem more intent on creating musical landscapes than soloing which i thinks let them and the other bands down-even a short break would be welcome! There are some great ideas but they are never expanded which is a shame. I like the flute and cello and the mellotron is used well. What gives say, White Willow or Annekdoten the edge is they know how to exploit a good riff and create an edge to their music which makes them constantly intresting. Sinkadus just meander aimlessly. Still, i would like to hear there other stuff because they do have a lot of potential if only they'd reign in the tracks a little."