The Garden of Mysteries by Swedish act In the Labyrinth was originally released on cassette in 1994, but by the time of the actual CD release in 1996 the majority of the band, save for Peter Lindahl (guitars, bass, mandolin, Mellotron, synthesizers, flute, viola, percussion, vocals) had left and moved on to other projects, leaving Lindahl to finish cleaning up the songs and adding extra musical parts all by himself. The album In the Garden of Mysteries has remained a rare and much sought after progressive rock album over the last 10-15 years, and now it's been reissued by the folks at Record Heaven/Transubstans Records complete with restored artwork in the booklet and detailed track information.
In addition to Lindahl, the other musicans appearing on The Garden of Mysteries include Helena Selander & Helena Bringner (backing vocals and harmonies), Ulf Hansson (Darbouka & Egyptian tabla), Mikael Gejel (Flutes, acoustic guitar, bass, synthesizers and samplers, tamboura, percussion, background harmonies and jojk), Karin Langhard-Gejel (Djembe, flute and background harmonies), and Stefan Ottman (narration). With 22 mostly instrumental tracks, there's a lot of music to take in here, but the album flows quite nicely from start to finish. Many of the musical themes are Middle Eastern and Turkish in nature, giving an interesting and unique flavor to many of the tracks, and the myriad of instruments used only add to the depth of the arrangements. "Ali Hasan", thanks to it's use of flute and electric guitar, has an almost '80s Jethro Tull flair to it (the vocals even sound influenced by Ian Anderson), and both "Alan" and "Meditating Minotauros" contain some gorgeous acoustic guitar and flute. "Moorish Rhapsody" sees the appearance of the mighty Mellotron, along with some beautiful female vocals, viola, classical guitar, and electric guitar, and some rare heavy guitar riffs supplemented by ominous Mellotron surface on the quirky "Trans Turkish Express". Many of the following tracks are quick pieces featuring lovely instrumentation, and it's not until "Almeria" near the end of the CD that the band dive into longer form arrangements, this one being somewhat of a tribute to Italian composer Ennio Morricone, and a good one at that.
In summary, The Garden of Mysteries is a lovely slice of modern progressive rock with lots of classic influences and plenty of ethnic flavors. It's no surprise that this recording is one of prog's best kept secrets among genre fans and a much sought after CD by collectors. Now thanks to Transubstans Records everyone can experience and enjoy this little progressive rock gem once again or for the first time.
Track Listing
01 Gates of Andorra
02 Karakoram pass
03 Escape from Canaan
04 Hiram Abiff
05 Kekova (The sunken city)
06 Ali Hasan
07 Aslan
08 Meditating Minotauros
09 The garden of mysteries II
10 Monsoon
11 Andalucy
12 Journey to Hel
13 Moorish rhapsody
14 Trans Turkish express
15 Aral
16 Moorish waltz
17 Desert visions
18 Ya Qader
19 The garden of mysteries I
20 La dame inconnue
21 Almeria
22 Palm-cat
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