Sweden’s Enigma Experience make their full-length debut this Friday with Question Mark. Being released through Fuzzorama Records, one doesn’t have to go far into the record to recognize the tone of guitarist Niklas Källgren, best known for his work as a founding member of Truckfighters. Källgren serves as songwriter, engineer, bassist, guitarist and backing vocalist on Question Mark, and though he’s no stranger to any of those roles from his work in his main outfit, Enigma Experience is a distinct engity, even as it reunites Källgren with drummer Oskar “Pezo” Johansson, who after his time in Truckfighters ended, went on to join fellow Örebro natives Witchcraft. Together with vocalist Maurice Adams (who also edited the video premiering below), the trio emerge as a studio project at the least — granted that’s true of nearly everything right now — but based around a coherent vision of expressive, progressive, and yes, fuzzed songcraft and performance.

It probably shouldn’t come as a major surprise that guitar is a focal point. Leading with riffs is fair enough, but opener/longest track (immediate points) “Realityline” begins Question Mark with a patient flourish and a gradual buildup over its first three-plus minutes, kicking in its full tone at 4:10 and unfolding from there with a more weighted but no less fluid trajectory, Adams proving early his ability to soar above the groove. If Källgren‘s branching out from Truckfighters is the impetus for the band, then Adams might be the semi-secret weapon. His vocals are emotive to match the lyrics and melodic without being overly showy, overly prog, or inaccessible. As Question Mark moves into shorter cuts “Lone Wolf” and “Mighty Mind” ahead of the assumed side A closer, the more atmospheric, darker and meatier “Corruption,” Adams brings range and dynamic to the material, and with Johansson‘s steady, creative drums as the foundation, the songs are able to shift in various directions of mood and shove to suit both the forwardness of the riffs and the depth of the mix.

“Equilibrium,” which opens the second half of Question Mark, is about as close as Enigma Experience come stylistically to where Truckfighters have been before, a kind of Gravity X-style chug and desert groove marked by quick fuzzy leads as both Adams and Källgren add vocal lines, the rhythm offsetting chugging swing with a not-entirely-unexpected-but-still-welcome push, giving way to the acoustic turn at the start of “In My Mind My Secret Place,” which is more than halfway through its 6:49 before it explodes and hits with its full brunt, the volume carrying through to the finish. That brings up “The Z,” a guitar, bass and drum shuffle jam that’s the lead-in for closer “The Zone,” which is broader in structure than much of what precedes it throughout Question Mark, but consistent in terms of tone and overall thrust. With lyrics based on the experience of raising a son with autism spectrum disorder — something my family has experience with as well — there is an added emotional context as one imagines Källgren looking at his child and trying to understand how his mind works and where he goes when he goes to that zone in question.

Ahead of Question Mark‘s release later this week, a lyric video for “The Zone” is premiering below. Beneath that, you’ll find the preorder link for the record and more from Källgren about the track.

Please enjoy:

Enigma Experience, “The Zone” official lyric video premiere

Video edited by M.Adams
Words and music written by Niklas ‘Mr.Dango’ Källgren.

Preorder here: https://us.fuzzoramastore.com/en/

‘The Zone’ is a full frontal assault of huge fuzzy guitars and stirring, sincere energy. A powerful groove-heavy anthem inspired by guitarist Niklas Källgren’s son who lives with autism. Gigantic riffs, zealous vocal delivery and countless twists and turns keep you firmly on the edge of your seat, all the while encouraging you to be unafraid of seeking solace when life deals you a tough hand.

Delving deeper into message behind the track, Källgren explains, “The song deals with the difficulties for a person having a different mind coping with living in this world. Walking in your own zone not paying much attention to the outside world, but also the realisation that when reaching out you are not alone.”

“The meaning of the song can easily be applied to any kind and any grade of tendencies towards psychological or mental problems like angst or depression,” he adds. “If you look yourself in the mirror there are probably times when you felt like shutting down the outside world to live in your own zone, even if just for a while.”

Enigma Experience is:
Niklas “Mr. Dango” Källgren – Guitar, bass, backing vocals
Oskar “Pezo” Johansson (ex-Truckfighters/Witchcraft) – Drums
Maurice Adams (Breed/Motorfinger) – Vocals

Enigma Experience website

Enigma Experience on Thee Facebooks

Enigma Experience on Instagram

Fuzzorama Records website

Fuzzorama Records on Thee Facebooks

Tags: Enigma Experience, Enigma Experience Question Mark, Fuzzorama Records, Norway, Örebro, Question Mark, Sweden

This entry was posted on Monday, November 9th, 2020 at 5:09 am and is filed under Bootleg Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.