http://www.psychedelicfolk.com/Paganus.html

(c) VASILIS ZAHAROPOULOS, METAL HAMMER GREECE.

Svenska folkrockarna i Paganus släpper nu sin andra platta. Om November och Kebnekajse hade fått för sig att avla en avfälling hade den förmodligen låtit precis så här. Distade gitarrer, tunga trummor, sång på svenska med klädsamma drag av dalmål och fiol. Om man gillar grupper som Hoven Droven, Sten och Otyg är Paganus definitivt en grupp att kolla upp. Suveräna musiker, med ett extra plus till den flyhänte trummisen. Vidare är sångaren bättre än många i genren, utan att sätta den svenska folksjälen på spel. Påminner faktiskt lite om Blues Bags Lennart Kåge ibland. Paganus utgår mer från hård rock än folkmusik. Låtarna är uppbyggda mer enligt rockens formel med tillägg av en folkton och lite fiol som snygg garnityr. Inledande ”Arg” är en riktigt tung sak med drivande gitarrer och ett inledande fett riff. Låten ”Ny väg” fick mig att tänka lite på tidiga Pugh Rogefeldt under sin ”Bolla och rulla”-period, en tid han borde ha utvecklat mycket mer. Nå, nu finns ju Paganus istället. De smäckra balladerna ”Skogen minns” och ”Atlantis” är allt annat än rock ’n roll, men de funkar definitivt, även för en inbiten hårdrockare som undertecknad. Vackert! Inalles en riktigt bra platta, med starka låtar, svensk sång som funkar och en trevlig produktion. Väl värd att kolla upp!

With their second longplayer “Kalla” Swedish PAGANUS sound more concrete than on their already inspiring debut album „Skogsrock“. The metaphor lies close at hand and seems just natural: relying on its strong roots in classic rock music and various influences from different niches of handmade music, the band grows like a tree, spreading its branches high into the sky, hungry for life, its beauty, its adventures and challenges.

Sometimes this music wakes the child within me: when I close my eyes I can well imagine the three robbers dancing to this lively wooden soundtrack through the forest. As the band explains itself, it’s not difficult to name many inspirations – and Swedish folk is a big influence for sure – but what PAGANUS makes of these is quite unique and – that is really extraordinary – positive and encouraging. You can’t listen to “Kalla” and at the same time cultivate your depression, because the music has a truly uplifting and enriching character, just like a good friend who has no interest to leave you to your own devices, but who helps you up whenever you feel down. Not be misunderstood: PAGANUS’ songs are far from superficial retro hippie style, and most of them have a serious undertone, yet they sound so down

to earth and free at once, that it’s a pleasure to listen to them. A great stake in that wooden sound has Johannes Söderqvist with his strong vocals and Maria Larsson at the violin, and although PAGANUS plays no metal, the spirit of good ol’ Skyclad is present in many songs. It really seems as if these Swedish musicians have a similar strong and disquietingly ambivalent perception of the world around them with all its natural beauty and all its man-made destruction. From this contrast or challenge obviously springs an enormous energy which floats directly into the music. The album is available through Record Heaven and features a superb nightly cover artwork worth the LP format.

adventures and challenges.

Finns att läsa på http://www.trollmusic.net/SUTS_6.pdf sidan 17

Det er nesten de samme folka som besatte instrumentposisjonene på forrige plata, dvs: nevnte Söderquist, Maria Larsson på fiolin og kor, Fredrik Karlsson på bass, Fredrik Mohlin på sologitar og mandolin, og den nye trommeslageren i bandet heter Jolene Fredricson. Sammen har de skapt et levende, ekte og hjertevarmt lydbilde som engasjerer og inspirerer. Paganus’ originalitet hviler på flere plattformer: de spiller en relativt hardtrockende utgave av folkrock, der Jethro Tull tidligere har vært nevnt som referanse, og jeg må igjen trekke frem norske Gåte, kanskje også Folque; de synger også på sitt herlige svenske morsmål; og de fletter aktivt inn fiolin, mandolin og folkemusikk-koring.

”Kalla” er bandets 2. album, og oppfølgeren til briljante ”Skogsrock” fra 2007. Det virker som det er langt flere som har lagt merke til bandets kvaliteter denne gang, og omtalene er tildels euforiske for ”Kalla”. Ikke rart, ”Kalla” er nemlig et solid og usedvanlig godt gjennomført album. I den grad det kan oppfattes som negativt, så kan det være at de to platene er ganske like i formen. Söderquist har imidlertid kommet opp med en bunke låter som hårfint tar innersvingen på debutplata. Dessuten blir man glad av å høre på plata.

9 låter er det funnet plass til på ”Kalla”, alle riktig så fine. Åpningslåta er så vidt nevnt, den heter ”Arg” og er superfenomenal. Gitarintroen overlappes av en trollaktig fiolin før resten av bandet sveives i gang. Bandet mikser folkrock, hardrock og bluesrock på en forbilledlig måte, og du kan bare nyte energien som blåses mot deg. ”Spela for mig”, ”Vilda skrattet” og tittellåta følger opp på imponerende vis. Den eneste låta som skiller seg markant ut her er ”Skogen minns”, som er visepreget og akustisk med nydelig fiolinspill, og som får oss til å tenke på andre store svenske låtskrivere som Ulf Lundell, Lars Winnerback, Mikael Wiehe og Bjørn Afzelius.

Paganus suger inn energien fra skogen rundt seg og bruker den til å skape trolsk, tidløs, vill og sevjebefengt folkrock. En maktdemonstrasjon!

Länk till recensionen

Paganus follow their impressive debut Skogsrock with a new effort in the same vein. As before they make a rural, slightly folk influenced rock music that has been compared to Jethro Tull among others.

”Arg” (Angry) opens the proceedings with singer Johannes Söderqvist raging against those who seek to destroy nature. ”Vilda skrattet” (The wild laughter) has a fiddle bit by Maria Larsson that firmly anchors it in the folk tradition, but it has a rhythm that’s very rock. The band makes the influences come together well. ”Bön till Pan” (Prayer to Pan) reminds me of the Waterboys’ epic hymns to Pan if only in spirit. Söderqvist’s evoking of the wild spirit of the woods is set to a rhythmic backdrop that suits it well.

”Skogen minns” (The forest remembers) is a sensitive ballad that sees the singer reflect on life in a good fashion. The band play it well. As second albums go, this one has beaten the sophomore slump well.

Läs recensionen på Luna Cafés webbplats

PAGANUS – KALLA
By Dj. Astro

Hailing from the forests of Wärmland, Sweden, Paganus have found their own style on their second album. The influence of Swedish folk music is even stronger present and there is also more violin than before. The violin player has also studied folk music in Ireland and you can hear that as well from time to time. The early 70’s hard and classic rock is still the most important thing and it is exactly in this sector that the band now sounds more like themselves than their influences. The album starts off with the pretty heavy, mid-tempo “Arg” that has heavy blues influences and the violin is very well presented. The bit more positive “Spela för mig” continues in a great way including some nice melodies. “Vilda skrattet” rocks a bit faster as does the album’s title track “Kalla” that is one of the best tracks on the album also including some female backing vocals and a bit mystical, excellent solo part towards the end. This is hot stuff! Then we get somewhat more peaceful “Bön till Pan” that includes some forest magic. “Mannen I bäcken” is an acoustic-driven folk rock song, “Skogen minns” a peaceful ballad. Also the album’s longest track “Atlantis” is pretty soft and laid-back, although it gets heavier later on. The album is finished with the mid-tempo folk/hard rock piece “Ny väg” and I’m sure this one is nice to sing along at gigs. All in all, the band has done a better job than on their debut album and I would think that this disc would go down well with all those you dig melodic, 70’s styled hard rock with strong folk music vibes.

27.04.10 by Dj Astro

http://www.unimeri.com/PsychotropicZone/reviews.en.php?subaction=showfull&id=1272356482&archive=&start_from=&ucat=3

Kalla

Deras första skiva hette Skogsrock och de har ett budskap. De manar till tanke och att ta vara på den värld vi har. Medvetet och politiskt men helt befriat från pekpinnar och partipolitiskt tjafsande.

De gör en slags svensk musik med anor från den brittiska progressiva 1970-talseran på så vis att det är en musik som präglas av öppenhet, vidsynthet och där folkmusikaliska ingredienser möter rock. Det är lika mycket mystik och natur som betraktelser av dagens moderna samhälles skövlingar av sådant. Det är bra musiker, det är välformulerade texter och det sjungs med dialekt. Johannes Söderqvist är sångare och låtskrivare och hans röst låter mjuk och följsam samtidigt som den i hans mer arga poesi uttrycker ilska, förtvivlan och besvikelse över hur vår planet skövlas.

Trummor, bas och gitarr tillsammans med fiol och mandolin skapar en vital och livfull ljudbild. Det må andas progg men det är framförallt en levande och vital rockmusik med arrangemang och en öppenhet kring hur man kan blanda stilgrepp. En öppenhet och känslighet som gör att det faller sig naturligt att se Paganus som en form av nutida progg.

Låtarna håller intresset vid liv genom snirkliga kreativa musikaliska idéer. Allt från mer lågmälda betraktelser till lite äventyrliga saker som tar ut svängarna.

En skiva som förhoppningsvis smyger sig fram och når ut till en ansenlig mängd lyssnare.

Paganus är sannerligen värd att bli kända även utanför Värmland.

Östran

Primeval forest
Paganus, Kalla

Rated 6/7, ”Groovissimo of the week”

By Dag Erik Asbjørnsen

[…]
Paganus’ chieftain ideologist Johannes Söderqvist  is a energetic supporter of the stand point that suggests that we should once again array ourselves in  forest fur and not break a continuity that has lasted thousands of years. Real werewolves abruptly entered history during the migration period in the Iron Age. These where the tribes that cultivated Fenrir, violence, pain, evil[-ness] and a caricature of the warrior ideal to the, and defied the forces in the world that keeps us all together in a kind of balance. They created an eternal balance of terror [collateral damage?], in which no man can say what is good or bad, but at best, learn about the strong and weak forces and which are opposites to each other. Lack of respect for “the whole” makes man blind and may cause whole civilizations to go crashing down the abyss – though Ragnarok becomes the midwife of a new world where there is no evil, suffering or toil. Until the new people again brings these elements into the world, of course!

Dual libertarianitys’ two ditches leading man into the blind worship (the total dissolution of the ego) or blind evil (total selfishness), fanaticism is as strong on both sides and they attract each other relentlessly in the same way as opposite-charged elementary particles. These people follow only their fate and can not be resolved from their monotheistic, mental slavery before the moment where matter meets anti-matter and energy delivered. The big religions of the world is however not without a glance at “the whole”. I am thinking particularly of the dialectic expressed through Zen-buddhism’ countless koan’s (dialogues or questions between master and student), for example: Two hands are clapping, and it will sound. How is the sound of one hand? Or: Without thinking of good or evil, tell me how was your original face before your mother and father were born.

So it is that it is our conscious choice that counts, we are free to make our clumsy attempts to understand the world around us – and every action we choose to do, get their consequence, perhaps hundreds of years into the future a whole elsewhere in the world or the universe. We have ground to loan a few decades before we go somewhere else some call ”nowhere”, the second ”heaven”, with as little material wealth that we took with us into life. We are as cells in a larger organism, where the intention is to build larger network through our daily work, through communication with others. We exude an energy of signals and codes to the environment and trained senses will feel the reflection back and the impact on ourselves. We are all one.

In today’s world dominated by digital shorts and urban superstition, many people become lost in the conspiracy theory’s most twisted mazes. Lies and truth be confused more and more often, because people forget that the search for truth requires something other than ”cut and paste”, what is required is the interaction and respectful interaction with the myriad of forces and opinions around us. Even in Norse times, it was a goal to behave the most moral and courtly (recorded in Snorri Håvamål). We search the day after to do anything about the digital black and white in the form of zeros and one in an organic, living universe in which the study of plasma physics and electromagnetic forces are better able to keep us in place in elliptical orbits, circling around the existence unsolvable, existential, paradoxical and eternal questions.

, That is, this is my own observations and interpretations in light of the music of Paganus. Surely there is at least that group are united in the desire for a better time, a better world and a message that the Earth is sacred, in a certain sense of the word. The name ”paganus” have no rest with so-called pagan religions, but is the Latin word for an inhabitant of the countryside. Kalla is the sequel to Rock Forest, which won in 2007 and expresses an idea of listening for the call from the wilderness, and later recall.

The music is as before, down to earth, honest and straightforward, without pompous ornament in the direction of Wagner’s ghosts and unnecessary tidsforvrengninger in the rhythm department. And honesty is so visible in an industry, or indeed a world, full of promise lies and assumed intentions. It is like Black Sabbath stripped of artificial black color, Lindisfarne on rehab with svagdricka and Nordic gloom or Jethro Tull in the forest to dig for Nordic forkultur. Here is the heavy riffs in everyday clothes with guitars, fiddle and mando liner in compositions that give honor to a long and rich tradition of Swedish folk rock.

This is an album that holds angst and frustration, where the first message is simply ”I am angry. I’m so fucking angry”, as opposed to extremist black-metal-iacs who read Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount backwards with stone crushing voice, while the six feet tall, inverted crosses forged in Mount Doom’ flames shakes loose from their mounts on the walls and smashed over the audience as the blood flows, whilst the ecstasy among the survivors reaches new heights. It is possible to get the message  that the world is on the beaten track through without burning churches, schools and synagogues in a storm of hatred. Paganus keeps it all on a more allegorical level with stories like “The Wild Laughter” and “The Man in the Stream”. And “The Forest Remembers” new ages …

Kalla is simply a brilliant record with dynamic width in the sound, yet with distinctive musical expressions and a – when it comes to references within the rock community – unique philosophical conviction behind it all.

This comes from a heart that beats for the black-green virgin forests, and an exploitation of nature in harmony with its tolerance limits.

Paganus’ carrying a wish for a better time, a better world. This is their second album and just like the debut this record has the lovely smell of primeval forest moss and pine resin. You could say that it was Paganus themselves who created the concept of forest rock here in Wermland.

With Johannes Söderqvist cultivated lyrics and dialect voice that is angry and soft at the same time,  Paganus takes you with ‘em on an ecological journey. We travel with scrutinizing eyes through the exploitation that modern society’s stands for into the suggestive landscape of nature mysticism. With  Maria Larsson’s violin, which makes the rough and dark forest-rock melodic and hopeful, we’re brought to a place where humans and nature, breathe in harmony.

When Paganus calls you’d like to follow. In their music, in their vocation. Listen and be inspired you to.

Lovisa Eriksson