Sinkadus ~ Sweden

Cirkus (1999)

By the time Cirkus came out, the Stinkadus moniker was in full force. I cover this phenomena below, so I won't go over it again. The most slow brained among us were the ones throwing the sharpest darts, and many are still around, each dumber than the day before with their grand proclamations of what objectively sucks, and there's no debating that it's a hard fact. Interesting to note that all of this noise with Sinkadus has ironed out over time with less tainted newer listeners who can listen more objectively. ProgArchives, for their part, has very high ratings for both their albums.

I don't think I've heard this album since the day I acquired it, but recall that my personal impression was it was the stronger of the two releases. I can also remember that there were a few converts based on the strength of the material here. So it's not uncommon to read that Cirkus was a vast improvement on the debut. I disagree about the spread. In fact, at this advanced stage, I would declare them a tie in a very exciting race. Despite hearing dozens of styles in any given month, I never tire of the type of music Sinkadus puts forward. Same with Anglagard and Wobbler, and the rest of them. They all simply distill the best of the early 70s European progressive rock movement and give us the concentrate. Don't even need to add water to enjoy.

Ownership: 1999 Cyclops (CD). Booklet with lyrics (in both English and Swedish), recording details, and artwork.

1999 (acquired); 8/11/25 (review)
 

Aurum Nostrum (1997)

Sinkadus. The other 90's Swedish band that consolidated all that was good from the analog early 70s progressive rock scene and created an album from that premise. You can always tell when a reviewer comes from the 90s "scene", on how much they despise the album because it sounds like the almighty Anglagard. As if the world was filled with such tiresome bands. And yet, had they heard this album without any reference to Anglagard - and in fact many young folks today may do just that by accident - then they would have been justifiably impressed. Despite the fact that there were precisely 933 Genesis imitators by this time, the thought of one other band treading down the same path as Anglagard was simply unacceptable. All real silly in retrospect, and it says more about the reviewers than anything else. The members of Anglagard are the first to admit they didn't create anything new under the sun - just filtered what they liked best from 1973 / 74 Europe, and went about their business. And it was well received by most everyone - perhaps to the point of religion. And, as such, Sinkadus suffered the unfair accusation of plagiarism (Wobbler were later to be subjected to similar abuse). Don't bother with any of that, and enjoy the album as it is presented. Heavy guitar, Hammond organ, flute, mellotron, woody bass, and Swedish vocals is what you'll hear. All multi-tiered, constantly changing, and melodic. If you're a fan of intricate analog progressive rock circa 1973, hard to imagine not walking away impressed with this one. Unless you have an Anglagard complex. Many do.

Our friend Bas adds from the UTR: "Aurum Nostrum is a great album... I guess. The thing is: I've got the excellent Live at Progfest album, which comes with a bonus disc with some sort of demo version (version 1 as they call it) of Aurum Nostrum. Great music, but I've no idea how it compares to the final version. I'd love to hear that version, but I'm sure it's way OOP and I don't fancy paying over the odds for it, only to find out it's not very different. I guess I could have a listen on youtube to get an idea, though.

Strange how Änglagård got all the plaudits and Sinkadus were labelled copycats. Even if they were, I don't mind: that would mean more Änglagård!"

Ownership: 1997 Cyclops (CD). Lyrics, unique art, and band photos. 

1997 (acquired); 10/18/15 (review); 4/16/20

10/18/15 (new entry)