Holy Cow! I went to the mailbox today, and I got Christmas early this year! Sweden's ABRAMIS BRAMA just put out a new disc, and instead of their native tongue ( for those of you not familiar with the band, they normally record in Swedish) it is entirely in English. That's not the half of it though. These songs have appeared on the band's previous two full-length releases, "Dansa tokjavelns vals" (1999) and "Nar tystnaden lagt sig"(2001). But this is not some cheap effort to get your hard earned dollars, Euros, Pesos, etc. These songs are re-recorded, and the lyrics have been rewritten, not recycled! This gives a fresh perspective to the songs and makes the familiar melodies ring to a one-language-speakin' dude like myself makes me wish I had taken Swedish in high school).

ABRAMIS BRAMA plays a straight-ahead stoner groove head and shoulders above the rest in their field. They can boil your blood one minute, and make you sway to the groove the next. Ulf Torkelsson's vocals sound like a raspier version of Chris Cornell, and complement Dennis Berg's hellacious bass lines in a way that you simply must hear. The band also features Per-Olof Andersson (Peo) on the guitar, and Fredrik Jansson on the drums -- who can go from an all-out smashing session to a mellow, jazzy beat in the blink of an eye. The disc is produced by Per Wikstrom (who also produced BACKDRAFT'S debut). According to the liner notes, he let the boys record lead and background vocals in his bathroom! Anyone that can create a masterpiece in the bathroom is ok in my book. If you haven't heard these masters of Swedish stoner rock, get you head out of your ass and grab some of their stuff. By the way ABRAMIS BRAMA is Latin for bream--a type of freshwater fish, and if you go to their website, you can see some pictures of some of the carp that bass-player Dennis has caught (apparently he fishes near a nuclear power plant). Man, those things are HUGE! I haven't seen lips that big since the last AEROSMITH tour! Later, fishheads.

- Murtaugh

OFFICIAL SITE: www.abramisbrama.com

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