" The idea behind the project was to play comprehensive Swedish pop songs with a complex and experimental foundation."
Ultrarapid is the second full-length album by this band from Uppsala, Sweden. It contains 13 tracks of what could be labeled as slightly dark pop music with progressive rock leanings. I place the emphasis on the "pop" part of that description because the songs tend to be, for the most part, in the 3:00-4:00 range, with a heavy dose of vocals throughout. And therein may lie the disc's weakness. The quasi-omnipresence of lyrics tends to take away from the more interesting musical ideas; relegating the latter to the back burner on most songs. This is too bad as the band has some interesting sounds; reminiscent of the poppier side of Swedish cult sensations of the 90s, Landberk. However, Villebrad don't quite channel the essence of that once-great band. Their songs do contain some proggier elements and even a slight dose of trippiness, but they tend to remain on the safe side of the musical equation. Every song seems interchangeable with every other song making it easy to lose track of just how many have played. Chances are that, if you don't like the opening 3 tracks, you won't like the rest; or vice versa. I found that with the exception of the short instrumental piece "Amerika", and the disc's longest track "Dom har Forstrot Dig", the rest of the material left me somewhat indifferent.
There is nothing bad about this disc or this band, but also nothing to get overly excited about. Your mileage will definitely vary with this release.
Track Listing:
- Stygnen
- Du ar Svag
- Skjuten I Hjartat
- Alskade Maskin
- Amerika
- Vaknar Aldrig
- Dom har Forstort Dig
- Feberdrom
- Ljus fran Innanmatet
- Neandertal
- Ultrarapide
- Tusen satt att forklara
- Slutet