Prins Svart
Under Jord

For their third album Prins Svart moves under ground, at least according to the title. The cover for this underground album is not very exciting though and will hardly give anyone the desire to place a vinyl copy of it in the record shelf. But as some of you wiser souls point out; the cover isn’t the most important thing and I read that they have carved their own niche and have some well-known Swedish vocalists adding their voices to what is described as the band’s unique musical style. You should bear in mind that unique has different meaning to different people, and what some call unique might not be the slightest bit unique to others. Still, it is always interesting when the word unique is used as unique or original should be the leading word for anyone trying to create something artistic.

Imagine my surprise when I hear how familiar all of this album sound, it was supposed to be unique, what the hell is this? I first thought that it was translated classic rock songs, but it isn’t. It is seventies rock with Swedish lyrics, and that is the unique, apparently. Abramis Brama and Mysteriet are two bands that I have reviewed that does the same thing, Abramis Brama has seven albums and Mysteriet debuted in 2013 so at least these two bands existed before Prins Svart – so, not really unique as it is generally meant for things existing as the only example or variations on that. I also think that the track Om det dom viskar är sant probably is very inspired by a song by the Swedish band Ratata as it sounds very similar to me. Still, singing rock in Swedish isn’t the most common thing so at least they have some originality but not that much. The playing time, inspired by the seventies, feels about right with just over half an hour, actually shorter than an EP I reviewed yesterday. That is good as albums don’t need to be long all the time, shorter albums often feel more dynamic and focused, and that is beneficial for the feel of this one.

Under Jord is a pretty good album, despite my misgivings about trying to sell it as unique when it clearly isn’t. The songs are good, catchy and it is always enjoyable when bands dare to sing in other languages than the overused English, it doesn’t always work but in this case it does. The opening track Inte så lätt som det ser ut and the sixth Om det dom viskar är sant, are the best tracks to me, but it isn’t a very memorable album overall so it will not make it into my vinyl collection (not many albums do these days). It is probably an album for the nostalgic old geezer and those who have been really impressed with the previous albums by the band, I don’t think you will be disappointed so it can certainly be an album worth checking out.

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