Till horisonten- WHITE VINYL (2022)

Order the VINYL VERSION of the new TK album “Till horisonten” (To the Horizon) here.

Price includes shipping!!!

Gatefold sleeve!!!

TILL HORISONTEN

SIDE A

1. Intro 00:49

2. In memoriam 07:38

3. Tidigt (Early) 03:43

4. Staden (The city) 06:39

5. Till en vän (For a friend) 03:15

SIDE B

7. Brevet (The letter) 02:45

8. Vägen till horisonten (The road to the Horizon) 13:55

9. Till horisonten (To the Horizon) 05:07

Stefan Fredin- bass guitar, vocals, rhythm guitar
Dag Lundquist- drums, backing vocals, violin
Robert Zima- vocals
Christer Åkerberg- electric & acoustic guitars
Mats Lindberg- keyboards

Robert- lead vocals on tracks 1,3, 5, 6 and 8.
Stefan- lead vocals on tracks 2, 4 and 8.

Music by Stefan Fredin except for
Brevet- music by Dag Lundquist
Vägen till horisonten- music by Fredin-Lunquist- Åkerberg.
Till horisonten – music by Fredin- Lundquist- Åkerberg.

Lyrics by Olle Thörnvall.

Cover art and design by Johan Gullberg.

Recorded at H.O.M.E. Studios in Saltsjöbaden, Sweden.
between November 2019 and March 2020.
Mixed by Dag Lundquist.
Mastered by Peter In de Betou at Tailor Maid Productions, Stockholm in November 2020.
Lots of thanks to Per Ingels.

ARRANGED AND PRODUCED BY TRETTIOÅRIGA KRIGET

”To the Horizon” is the 10th album from Trettioåriga kriget (The Thirty Years War). Actually, it is the 11th if you include ”Glorious War” by the band’s original line-up of 1970-71. However, most would know this remarkable Swedish band from
their first five albums, including the classic ”Krigssång” (War Song). These were recorded between 1974 and 1981. In 2003 the band regrouped, consisting of the same members, gigging and recording af if there had been no hiatus at all.
Indeed, this phase II of TK’s career has proved extremely fruitful, and the new album is in many ways the crowning achievement of a very dedicated, tightly-knit ensemble of five musicians and a lyricist. The band are by now capable of drawing on
all aspects of their extended experience as friends, fellow players and human beings. While every album from ”Elden av år” (The Fire of Years, 2004) has to me sounded as vigourous and exciting, I strongly suspect that ”To the Horizon” will
continue to grow on me and all other listeners, until it may stand out as the truly great Trettioåriga kriget album.
It is the result of a prolonged effort, in its final stages a veritable defiance of the still current pandemic situation. Rehearsals and songwriting began already in the summer of 2017, and for once live improvisation formed the basis for the
first track to be conceived, the epic instrumental ”The Road to the Horizon”. In this magnificent composition, the band’s core trio of Stefan Fredin (bass), Dag Lundquist (drums) and Christer Åkerberg (guitar), make full use of the amazing
interplay that has evolved between them over the years, while Mats Lindberg’s keyboards add colours and contours to the track’s 13 minutes and 55 seconds of non-stop excitement.
TK’s singers, Robert Zima and Fredin, show their strengths on the album’s seven other linked tracks. Of these, Fredin has written five, Lundquist contributes the brief, poignant ”Brevet” (The Letter), while the beautiful, true title track ”Till
horisonten” (To the Horizon), which ends the album, is credited to Fredin, Lundquist and Åkerberg. Recording took place in the band’s base of Saltsjöbaden, outside of Stockholm, between November 2019 and March 2020.
Song structures and moods vary with great ease. As ever, the shorter songs should not be overlooked: ”Till en vän”(To a Friend), a beautifully restrained, minor-key greeting to a departed poet friend of lyricist Olle Thörnvall’s, is very moving,
as is ”En gång” (Once), a miniature only as regards its length of one and a half minute, but a song of rare, crystalline quality.
In other songs, intricate musical textures form the basis for supple and quite original melodies. ”In Memoriam” with its impressively channeled energy, or ”Staden” (The City), with its odd time signatures, are good exponents of the band’s skill
as a musical collective, while Åkerberg’s guitar comes to the fore on many occasions throughout the album, contributing melodious embellishment as well as stunning power.
”To the Horizon” is an album of remarkable unity: unity of purpose, unity of music and lyrics and Johan Gullberg’s sensitive artwork, and also of strong emotion and vital energy. It is an album that celebrates the incredible life span of
Trettioåriga kriget, that looks back on the band’s and its members’ life stories and counterbalances an inevitable melancholy with inventiveness and a curiosity that is still very much present after so many decades.
This spring of 2021, while we are all longing for our favourite bands to be able to tour again, for ourselves to be able to travel and for our lives to return to normal, I listen with extra attention to the song ”Tidigt” (Early). Both its lyrics
and lithe melody speak of well-known things and surroundings that are still changing, that still appear new, that still carry promises. The very same can be said about this rare band, Trettioåriga kriget.

Jonas Ellerström

Leave a comment

Till horisonten- VINYL (2022)

Order the VINYL VERSION of the new TK album “Till horisonten” (To the Horizon) here.

Price includes shipping!!!

Gatefold sleeve!!!!

TILL HORISONTEN

SIDE A

1. Intro 00:49

2. In memoriam 07:38

3. Tidigt (Early) 03:43

4. Staden (The city) 06:39

5. Till en vän (For a friend) 03:15

SIDE B

7. Brevet (The letter) 02:45

8. Vägen till horisonten (The road to the Horizon) 13:55

9. Till horisonten (To the Horizon) 05:07

Stefan Fredin- bass guitar, vocals, rhythm guitar
Dag Lundquist- drums, backing vocals, violin
Robert Zima- vocals
Christer Åkerberg- electric & acoustic guitars
Mats Lindberg- keyboards

Robert- lead vocals on tracks 1,3, 5, 6 and 8.
Stefan- lead vocals on tracks 2, 4 and 8.

Music by Stefan Fredin except for
Brevet- music by Dag Lundquist
Vägen till horisonten- music by Fredin-Lunquist- Åkerberg.
Till horisonten – music by Fredin- Lundquist- Åkerberg.

Lyrics by Olle Thörnvall.

Cover art and design by Johan Gullberg.

Recorded at H.O.M.E. Studios in Saltsjöbaden, Sweden.
between November 2019 and March 2020.
Mixed by Dag Lundquist.
Mastered by Peter In de Betou at Tailor Maid Productions, Stockholm in November 2020.
Lots of thanks to Per Ingels.

ARRANGED AND PRODUCED BY TRETTIOÅRIGA KRIGET

”To the Horizon” is the 10th album from Trettioåriga kriget (The Thirty Years War). Actually, it is the 11th if you include ”Glorious War” by the band’s original line-up of 1970-71. However, most would know this remarkable Swedish band from
their first five albums, including the classic ”Krigssång” (War Song). These were recorded between 1974 and 1981. In 2003 the band regrouped, consisting of the same members, gigging and recording af if there had been no hiatus at all.
Indeed, this phase II of TK’s career has proved extremely fruitful, and the new album is in many ways the crowning achievement of a very dedicated, tightly-knit ensemble of five musicians and a lyricist. The band are by now capable of drawing on
all aspects of their extended experience as friends, fellow players and human beings. While every album from ”Elden av år” (The Fire of Years, 2004) has to me sounded as vigourous and exciting, I strongly suspect that ”To the Horizon” will
continue to grow on me and all other listeners, until it may stand out as the truly great Trettioåriga kriget album.
It is the result of a prolonged effort, in its final stages a veritable defiance of the still current pandemic situation. Rehearsals and songwriting began already in the summer of 2017, and for once live improvisation formed the basis for the
first track to be conceived, the epic instrumental ”The Road to the Horizon”. In this magnificent composition, the band’s core trio of Stefan Fredin (bass), Dag Lundquist (drums) and Christer Åkerberg (guitar), make full use of the amazing
interplay that has evolved between them over the years, while Mats Lindberg’s keyboards add colours and contours to the track’s 13 minutes and 55 seconds of non-stop excitement.
TK’s singers, Robert Zima and Fredin, show their strengths on the album’s seven other linked tracks. Of these, Fredin has written five, Lundquist contributes the brief, poignant ”Brevet” (The Letter), while the beautiful, true title track ”Till
horisonten” (To the Horizon), which ends the album, is credited to Fredin, Lundquist and Åkerberg. Recording took place in the band’s base of Saltsjöbaden, outside of Stockholm, between November 2019 and March 2020.
Song structures and moods vary with great ease. As ever, the shorter songs should not be overlooked: ”Till en vän”(To a Friend), a beautifully restrained, minor-key greeting to a departed poet friend of lyricist Olle Thörnvall’s, is very moving,
as is ”En gång” (Once), a miniature only as regards its length of one and a half minute, but a song of rare, crystalline quality.
In other songs, intricate musical textures form the basis for supple and quite original melodies. ”In Memoriam” with its impressively channeled energy, or ”Staden” (The City), with its odd time signatures, are good exponents of the band’s skill
as a musical collective, while Åkerberg’s guitar comes to the fore on many occasions throughout the album, contributing melodious embellishment as well as stunning power.
”To the Horizon” is an album of remarkable unity: unity of purpose, unity of music and lyrics and Johan Gullberg’s sensitive artwork, and also of strong emotion and vital energy. It is an album that celebrates the incredible life span of
Trettioåriga kriget, that looks back on the band’s and its members’ life stories and counterbalances an inevitable melancholy with inventiveness and a curiosity that is still very much present after so many decades.
This spring of 2021, while we are all longing for our favourite bands to be able to tour again, for ourselves to be able to travel and for our lives to return to normal, I listen with extra attention to the song ”Tidigt” (Early). Both its lyrics
and lithe melody speak of well-known things and surroundings that are still changing, that still appear new, that still carry promises. The very same can be said about this rare band, Trettioåriga kriget.

Jonas Ellerström

Leave a comment

Till horisonten (2021)

Order the new TK album “Till horisonten” (To the Horizon) here.

Releasedate is 25th of March 2021.

Price includes shipping!!!

Gatefold sleeve!!!!

TILL HORISONTEN

1. Intro 00:49

2. In memoriam 07:39

3. Tidigt (Early) 04:35

4. Staden (The city) 06:39

5. Till en vän (For a friend) 03:52

6. En gång (Once) 01:30

7. Brevet (The letter) 02:45

8. Vägen till horisonten (The road to the Horizon) 13:55

9. Till horisonten (To the Horizon) 05:08

Stefan Fredin- bass guitar, vocals, rhythm guitar
Dag Lundquist- drums, backing vocals, violin
Robert Zima- vocals
Christer Åkerberg- electric & acoustic guitars
Mats Lindberg- keyboards

Robert- lead vocals on tracks 1,3, 5, 6 and 8.
Stefan- lead vocals on tracks 2, 4 and 8.

Music by Stefan Fredin except for
Brevet- music by Dag Lundquist
Vägen till horisonten- music by Fredin-Lunquist- Åkerberg.
Till horisonten – music by Fredin- Lundquist- Åkerberg.

Lyrics by Olle Thörnvall.

Cover art and design by Johan Gullberg.

Recorded at H.O.M.E. Studios in Saltsjöbaden, Sweden.
between November 2019 and March 2020.
Mixed by Dag Lundquist.
Mastered by Peter In de Betou at Tailor Maid Productions, Stockholm in November 2020.
Lots of thanks to Per Ingels.

ARRANGED AND PRODUCED BY TRETTIOÅRIGA KRIGET

”To the Horizon” is the 10th album from Trettioåriga kriget (The Thirty Years War). Actually, it is the 11th if you include ”Glorious War” by the band’s original line-up of 1970-71. However, most would know this remarkable Swedish band from
their first five albums, including the classic ”Krigssång” (War Song). These were recorded between 1974 and 1981. In 2003 the band regrouped, consisting of the same members, gigging and recording af if there had been no hiatus at all.
Indeed, this phase II of TK’s career has proved extremely fruitful, and the new album is in many ways the crowning achievement of a very dedicated, tightly-knit ensemble of five musicians and a lyricist. The band are by now capable of drawing on
all aspects of their extended experience as friends, fellow players and human beings. While every album from ”Elden av år” (The Fire of Years, 2004) has to me sounded as vigourous and exciting, I strongly suspect that ”To the Horizon” will
continue to grow on me and all other listeners, until it may stand out as the truly great Trettioåriga kriget album.
It is the result of a prolonged effort, in its final stages a veritable defiance of the still current pandemic situation. Rehearsals and songwriting began already in the summer of 2017, and for once live improvisation formed the basis for the
first track to be conceived, the epic instrumental ”The Road to the Horizon”. In this magnificent composition, the band’s core trio of Stefan Fredin (bass), Dag Lundquist (drums) and Christer Åkerberg (guitar), make full use of the amazing
interplay that has evolved between them over the years, while Mats Lindberg’s keyboards add colours and contours to the track’s 13 minutes and 55 seconds of non-stop excitement.
TK’s singers, Robert Zima and Fredin, show their strengths on the album’s seven other linked tracks. Of these, Fredin has written five, Lundquist contributes the brief, poignant ”Brevet” (The Letter), while the beautiful, true title track ”Till
horisonten” (To the Horizon), which ends the album, is credited to Fredin, Lundquist and Åkerberg. Recording took place in the band’s base of Saltsjöbaden, outside of Stockholm, between November 2019 and March 2020.
Song structures and moods vary with great ease. As ever, the shorter songs should not be overlooked: ”Till en vän”(To a Friend), a beautifully restrained, minor-key greeting to a departed poet friend of lyricist Olle Thörnvall’s, is very moving,
as is ”En gång” (Once), a miniature only as regards its length of one and a half minute, but a song of rare, crystalline quality.
In other songs, intricate musical textures form the basis for supple and quite original melodies. ”In Memoriam” with its impressively channeled energy, or ”Staden” (The City), with its odd time signatures, are good exponents of the band’s skill
as a musical collective, while Åkerberg’s guitar comes to the fore on many occasions throughout the album, contributing melodious embellishment as well as stunning power.
”To the Horizon” is an album of remarkable unity: unity of purpose, unity of music and lyrics and Johan Gullberg’s sensitive artwork, and also of strong emotion and vital energy. It is an album that celebrates the incredible life span of
Trettioåriga kriget, that looks back on the band’s and its members’ life stories and counterbalances an inevitable melancholy with inventiveness and a curiosity that is still very much present after so many decades.
This spring of 2021, while we are all longing for our favourite bands to be able to tour again, for ourselves to be able to travel and for our lives to return to normal, I listen with extra attention to the song ”Tidigt” (Early). Both its lyrics
and lithe melody speak of well-known things and surroundings that are still changing, that still appear new, that still carry promises. The very same can be said about this rare band, Trettioåriga kriget.

Jonas Ellerström

Leave a comment

Gryning, 12″ vinyl single

STEFAN FREDIN- Gryning (Dawn)

Vinyl 12″ single. 2017 reissue of the track “Gryning” originally released in 1983.
Plus an unreleased instrumental version of “Gryning” and an unreleased demo recording.

Side A
Gryning (Fredin-Thörnvall)

Side B
Gryning- Instrumental (Fredin)
I klockornas tid (Fredin-Thörnvall)

Stefan Fredin- vocals, bass guitar
Mats Lindberg- keyboards, drum machine
Freddy Söderling- guitar
Olle Thörnvall- lyrics

Gryning was recorded at Bastun Studio, Stockholm, Sweden 1983 by Peter In de Betou..
Mixed by Peter In de Betou.

I klockornas tid Demo recorded at Grunden, Saltsjöbaden, Sweden 1987.

Artwork by Johan Gullberg.
Photos by Johan Gullberg and Jåpe Persson.
Remastered by Peter In de Betou and Brandenburg Mastering.
Produced by Stefan Fredin and Peter In de Betou.

Leave a comment

The Grunden Recordings

The Grunden Recordings 1980- George T Rolin Band.

1.
If You See Me 05:35
2.
Bad Taste 03:03
3.
Hey Girl 05:54
4.
Liberty Loving 05:27
5.
Mr Doctor 04:41
6.
Kalla Natten 04:21
7.
After Midnight 30:09

Rock with Progressive influences. Georg Trolin from Panta Rei and Christer Åkerberg from Trettioåriga Kriget in the same band 1980-84.

Recorded in the legendary rehearsal room of Trettioåriga Kriget, Grunden in Saltsjöbaden Sweden in June 1980. The studio equipment was two Revox A 77, one MM 16-2 live mixer. A tape echo, various microphones, coffee and numerous cigarettes.

When transferring these songs to digital files we discovered a jam session that no one of us could recall. 30 minutes long …

This recording was the starting point of a couple of years touring around Sweden and we decided that it´s time to release a CD.

Almost 39 years later…..

released March 2, 2019

Georg Trolin, vocal, rhythm guitar, harmonica
Christer Åkerberg, lead guitar, backing vocal
Tomas Holmqvist, bass
Per Ingels, drums

Recorded at Grunden by Christer Åkerberg. From tape to files by Per Ingels at H.O.M.E. Studios Saltsjöbaden. Mastered by Dennis Moody in Los Angeles. Cover photo by Robert Ekegren. Album design by Lena Ringstad.

Leave a comment

Kriget

“Kriget” was originally released in 1981. This is the first time ever it will be available on CD.
It is the fifth TK album not counting the pre-debut album “Glorious War”.
It comes with two bonustracks, “Om Kriget kommer” and “Höghus”. Both were recorded at the album sessions
and orginally intended to be included on the album but left out in the last minute.
Here the album is restored with these two tracks as it was originally intended.
The album is housed in a beautiful foldout digi pack with design by long time TK partner David Östlund
who has worked on almost all TK albums since 2004. New liner notes by Olle Thörnvall in English covering
the history of the album.
Release date: 19th of May 2016
Price includes shipping anywhere in the world!!!
IMPORTANT!!! When choosing payment options use the PAYPAL option.
Even if you dont have a Paypal account you can pay with your creditcard there.

Tracklist:
1. Om Kriget kommer 4:10
2, Regn (regn, regn) 3:45
3. Tåget 4:50
4. Moderna tider 1:40
5. Europa 6:04
6. En liten man 3:18
7. Den rätta vägen 1:36
8. Blues 3:14
9. På jakt efter rock 3:43
10. Höghus 2:32
11. 3 strofer 2:50
12. Som förut 5:04
13. Tack och adjö 2:02

Stefan Fredin- lead vocals, bass guitar
Dag Lundquist- drums, lead vocals track 9, backing vocals
Christer Åkerberg- lead guitar
Mats Lindberg- keyboards, saxophone

Music by Stefan Fredin
except
track 9 music by Dag Lundquist
track 10 music by Christer Åkerberg

Lyrics by Olle Thörnvall

Recorded at Grunden, Saltsjöbaden , Sweden September to
October 1980.
Mixed at Studio Mistlur, Stockholm, Sweden January, 1981.
Photos by Martin Sjöberg
Original cover by Ermalms Egenart
Reissue cover by Ossie
Remastered by Dag Lundquist at Decibel Studios, Stockholm, Sweden.
PRODUCED AND ARRANGED BY TRETTIOÅRIGA KRIGET

Comments Off on Kriget

Seaside air

“Seaside air” is the 10th studio album from Trettioariga Kriget.
The album is housed in a beautiful foldout digi pack with as always stunning art work by Johan Gullberg.
This is the first TK album since the pre-debut aLbum “Glorious War” with English lyrics.
Release date: 14th of March 2016.
Price includes shipping anywhere in the world!!!
Tracklist:
1. The photograph 8:23
2. Seaside air 6:43
3. Forgotten garden 6:06
4. Snow 4:35
5. Billy 5:14
6. Dreaming of Vermeer 4:01
7. Behold the pilot 8:05

IMPORTANT!!! When choosing payment options use the PAYPAL option.
Even if you dont have a Paypal account you can pay with your creditcard there.

“Seaside Air”, the 10th studio album by Trettioåriga Kriget, was recorded during summer and autumn 2015 in Stockholm. It contains seven new original songs, most of them written by Stefan Fredin and all with lyrics by Olle Thörnvall. For the first time in the long history of Kriget, the entire album is in English, which should guarantee a new level of interest among the band’s very international fanbase.

Following the album trilogy that Trettioåriga Kriget released between 2004 and 2011, and which formed the band’s autobiography, “Seaside Air” is a relaxed, self-assured album. The songs are very strong, melodic and immediately accessible, sometimes showing their childhood love of The Beatles, but without losing the depth and complexity for which these Swedish masters of progressive rock are so well known. The first four tracks
form a mini suite with autobiographical roots, the following two numbers take off in another direction before the majestic closing number ”Behold the pilot” ties it all together.

“Seaside Air” is a phrase that could refer to the famously invigorating atmosphere of the band’s native Saltsjöbaden, but it could also mean “a melody by the sea”, full of light and colour. A very warm sound permeates this new album from Trettioåriga Kriget, an album in which the band reinvents itself once again, and creates great new music by looking back on its history.

CREDITS

Stefan Fredin- bass guitar, vocals, acoustic guitar
Dag Lundquist- drums, timpani, violin, percussion, background vocals
Robert Zima- vocals, acoustic guitar
Christer Åkerberg- lead guitar
Mats Lindberg-keyboards

Robert- lead vocals on tracks 1,2,5,6,7
Stefan- lead vocals on tracks 1,3,4

Music by Stefan Fredin
except
Snow- music by Stefan Fredin and Mats Lindberg
Billy- music by Dag Lundquist
Dreaming of Vermeer- music by Christer Åkerberg

Lyrics by Olle Thörnvall

Recorded at Soundtrade Studios, Stockholm, Sweden June 2015
and Atlantis Studio, Stockholm, Sweden September 2015
Engineer: Mats ”Limpan” Lindforss
Assistant engineer: Henrik Gennert
Mixed by Dag Lundquist November 2015 to January 2016
Mastered by Peter In de Betou at Tailor Maid Productions, Stockholm, Sweden January 2016.
Cover art and design by Johan Gullberg
Photos by Johan Gullberg
PRODUCED AND ARRANGED BY TRETTIOÅRIGA KRIGET

Comments Off on Seaside air

Efter efter (After after)

Efter efter (After after) -TRETTIOÅRIGA KRIGET.
Released in April 2011.
Price includes shipping anywhere in the world.
The third and last album in the trilogy starting with “Elden av år” 2004 and “I början och
slutet” 2007. Containing 8 tracks including the 10 minute title track and the amazing “Glorious war”
about the formation of the band. Housed in a beautiful digi pack with a poster of Johan Gullbergs art work.
English translations of all lyrics!!!
IMPORTANT!!! When choosing payment options use the PAYPAL option.
Even if you dont have a Paypal account you can pay with your creditcard there.

TRACK LIST

Mannen på bänken- The man on the bench 5:18
Barnet- The Child 8:45
Tavlan- The painting 6:16
The Dance 4:30
Glorious War 7:30
Till en sputnik- For a sputnik 4:56
Paus 1:32
Efter efter- After after 10:20
INFORMATION

Music by Stefan Fredin except track 3 music by Dag Lundquist, and track 6 music by Christer Åkerberg. Lyrics by Olle Thörnvall.

Cover artwork by Johan Gullberg.
Cover design by Ossie.
Arranged by Trettioåriga Kriget
Produced by Dag Lundquist

Stefan Fredin- bass guitar, vocals, acoustic guitar
Dag Lundquist- drums, percussion, backing vocals
Robert Zima- vocals
Christer Åkerberg- electric & acoustic guitars
Mats Lindberg- keyboards
Olle Thörnvall- lyrics

Recorded and mixed at Decibel Studios, Stockholm, Sweden between October 2010 and March 2011 by Dag Lundquist except track 4 and track 6 mixed by Peter In de Betou at Tailor Maid Production, Stockholm, Sweden..

Pre-production rehearsals at Musikhuset, Alphyddan, Nacka, Sweden
between January and October 2010. Mastered by Peter In de Betou at Tailor Maid Production, Stockholm, Sweden in March 2011.

BACKGROUND

After After- the songs, the sounds by Jonas Ellerström

“After After”, the final album of the trilogy that began with “The Fire of Years”, starts off with a song that fulfils the same role as the openers on the two previous albums. Like the majestic “Sparks” in 2004 and “Childhood” off 2007’s “In the Beginning and In the End”, “The Man on the Bench” sets the tone for the album and strikes the reflective, retrospective note that is the dominant mood of the trilogy. There are references in the lyrics pointing both forward to the album’s closing song, and back to “The Rider” of the previous album. “Once there was a war / The times since then have changed”, Olle Thörnvall’s lyrics states, but that this feeling is not one of cheap nostalgia is made clear by the next song.

“The Child” is yet another of Stefan Fredin’s strong, well-structured songs. This one he sings himself; as in many War songs the rocky seashore landscape of the band’s native Saltsjöbaden form the background, but here the city (nearby Swedish capital Stockholm) also enters, glittering with lights. But, and this I see as a sign of the hard-earned, mature self-confidence that more than anything marks the band’s phase II, there is “Nothing there / That I would like”. This is not a time for youthful dreams of being someone else, the song seems to say as Christer Åkerberg’s guitar makes beautiful variations on the melody, this is a time for stating who we have become. There is considerable drama in the musical play of shadows and light, underscored by some fine keyboard work from Mats Lindberg, and the song is one that continues to grow on the listener and to reveal its secrets.

“The Painting” is sung by Robert Zima in an unusually high pitch, which suits drummer Dag Lundquist’s fragile melody ever so well. The lyric’s images of the past blend with the present, both meet in the painting’s depiction of the landscape that now acts as a reminder of the painting. The wistful verses would suggest melancholy, but the refrain takes on a more affirmative voice and the words confirm: “A joy is hidden here / In what once was there”. This is not just an idyllic picture; the past influences the here and now.

From time to time, the Thirty Years War have recorded instrumentals. This could seem strange, for a band that has two strong singers and their own lyricist, but these tunes have always been perfectly natural instrumentals, just as much ‘songs’ as those featuring actual singing! “The Dance” is not so much of a mood piece as the early “Clouds on the Ground” but rather an uptempo piece showcasing Christer’s multi-faceted guitar work, Stefan’s inventive bass playing and Dag’s solid and exact drumming.

”Glorious War” is the autobiography of the band’s beginnings in the early 1970’s, a highly original song that forsakes an ordinary verse-refrain scheme in favour of an unfolding structure that helps telling the story. Once again, the song shows that this band will not throw in instrumental passages just as fill-out material or to show off their considerable skills. All parts of a War song serve their purpose within the whole. Note also the reference to Cyril Connolly’s book “The Unquiet Grave”, written under the pseudonym Palinurus, which is the title of a bonus track that the War will issue as a single for those that have pre-ordered the album.

“To a Sputnik” travels even farther back in time, to the early days of Swedish rock’n’roll when Krister Schubert from Saltsjöbaden for a brief moment was a shining star and recorded his own song “Sputnik Rock’n’Roll”. The song is by Christer and, fuelled by an insistent guitar/bass motif, adopts an almost playful mode. Rock-Krister, as he was known, “was forgotten and faded”, but is here lovingly immortalized by a band that has shown more true staying power than most.

The short acoustic “Time-out” shoulf not be dismissed because of its brevity. It has a subtle melody which interacts perfectly with the softly understated lyric about pausing for reflection, to draw one’s breath and gather strength.

And then the album closes with the title track, “After After”, an epic song that in its whirling kaleidoscope of then and now, in its blend of memories from the band’s on-stage debut at a local disco and its worldwide travelling in recent years, manages to gather all the pieces of this remarkable band’s history together. We are reminded of the key role that the elements of air and water play in their music. Often, and this is one of the War’s great songs, these masters of dynamics are able to enact the play of sunlight upon waves in the landscape that has formed them and that they have made their own. What do they achieve? I would say: vigorous beauty. What has been the major force behind their years and years of playing together? I think the answer lies in one of the lines of this song: at their best, love itself has been their guest.

Comments Off on Efter efter (After after)

War Years (Live album)

Double live album for the price of one. First cd containing live recordings from the 70s
and second cd mainly consisting of a live recording of TKs show at the Progday Festival
in NC, US in 2004. Housed in a nice digi pack with cover paintings as always by Johan Gullberg.
Cover also includes an extensive booklet with a long essay by the bands lyricist Olle Thörnvall in English
about the history of the band.
IMPORTANT!!! When choosing payment options use the PAYPAL option.
Even if you dont have a Paypal account you can pay with your creditcard there.

Disc One (Past):

Introduction Tippen (0:55)
Confusions (1:28)
Perspektiv (11.11)
Handlingens Skugga (8:21)
Krigssång (4:37)
False Start (1:07)
Krigssång II (12:27)
En Kväll hos X (5:18)
Den Stora Kliniken (3:59)
Mot Alla Odds (3:48)
Dåliga Nerver (3:05)
Blues (3:18)
Som Förut (5:27)
Errolito (3:28)

Disc Two (Present):

Introduction (0:21)
Lång Historia (8:17)
Mina löjen ( 8:27)
Om Kriget Kommer (5:32)
Andra Sidan (6:11)
Jag Och Jag Och “Jag” (4:53)
Moln På Marken (3:41)
I Början Och Slutet (3:49)
Krigssång (4:58)
Gnistor ( 8:42)
Ur Djupen (6:40)
Dagspress (2:41)
Kaledoniska Orogenesen (6:07)

Stefan Fredin- bass guitar, vocals
Dag Lundquist- drums, backing vocals
Robert Zima- vocals, guitar
Christer Åkerberg- lead guitar
Mats Lindberg- keyboards, saxophone
Olle Thörnvall- lyrics, harmonica on track 2

CD I recorded live on various locations in Sweden during 1971-81, track 3 and 4 recorded by Björn Carlsson. CD II recorded live at the Progday Festival, NC, US on the 5th of September 2004 by Mike Potter, and on the 8th of December 2007 at the Dieselverkstan, Nacka, Sweden by Mats “Limpan” Lindfors.

All songs on CD I and CD II by Stefan Fredin and Olle Thörnavall except the following: On CD I: track 2 by Thörnvall, track 4 by Fredin- Åkerberg- Thörnvall and track 14 by Trettioåriga Kriget. On CD II: treck 2 by Fredin-Lundquist-Åkerberg-Thörnvall, track 5 by Fredin-Åkerberg, track 6 by Åkerberg-Thörnvall, track 7 by Fredin and track 13 by Fredin-Åkerberg-Thörnvall.

Artwork by Johan Gulberg. Layout by Ossie. Photos by Hasse Persson, Johan Gullberg, Stefan Fredin, Ossie and Patrick Pignon.
CD I track 8 mixed by Dag Lundquist, track 9 mixed by Hasse Persson. CD II mixed by Christer Åkerberg.
Mastered by Mats “Limpan” Lindfors at Cutting Room, Stockholm, Sweden September 2008.
Arranged and compiled by Trettioåriga Kriget.
Produced by Trettioåriga Kriget.

For invaluable help and support on the road and through the War Years we wish to thank Hasse Persson, Jåpe Persson, Per Ingels, Stefan Dimle, Juan Barrenechea and others not mentioned but still not forgotten.

Comments Off on War Years (Live album)

I början och slutet (In the beginning and the end)

I början och slutet (In the beginning and the end)- TRETTIOÅRIGA KRIGET.
Released in August 2007.
Released to ovderwhelming reviews. Astonishing concept album containing
the “Benke” and “Traveller” suites.
Housed in a beautiful digi pack containing English translations of the lyrics.
IMPORTANT!!! When choosing payment options use the PAYPAL option.
Even if you dont have a Paypal account you can pay with your creditcard there.

TRACK LIST

I Krigets tid I 4:36
Barndom- Childhood 3:31
Ungdom- Youth 4:54
Ungdom II- Youth II 5:54
Benke 5:40
Lovsång- Song of praise 7:05
Öknen- The desert 2:41
S-bahn 3:14
Floden- The river 3:40
Ryttaren- The rider 4:20
I början och slutet 3:45
I Krigets tid II 4:05
INFORMATION

Stefan Fredin- bass guitar, rhythm guitar, vocals
Dag Lundquist- drums, percussion, backing vocals
Robert Zima- vocals
Christer Åkerberg- electric & acoustic
guitars
Mats Lindberg- keyboards
Olle Thörnvall- lyrics, harmonica on track 4

Music by Stefan Fredin,
except “Ungdom II” and “I Krigets tid II”
music by Fredin-Lundquist-Åkerberg.
Lyrics by Olle Thörnvall.

Recorded and mixed at Decibel Studios, Stockholm, Sweden
between December 2006 and June 2007 by Dag Lundquist.
Cover artwork by Johan Gullberg.
Cover design by Ossie.
Mastered by Mats “Limpan” Lindfors at Cutting Room,
Stockholm, Sweden June 2007.
Arranged by Trettioåriga Kriget.
Produced by Dag Lundquist.

Comments Off on I början och slutet (In the beginning and the end)