Dungen: Häxan
With their symphonic progrock instrumentation and psychedelic soundscapes, Dungen have always borrowed liberally from their ‘70s heroes. The Swedish quartet digs even deeper into the past on their eighth record, Häxan, assembling a spooky soundtrack to The Adventures of Prince Achmed, a 1926 animated German film that’s long faded into obscurity. If any rock band is suited for that bizarre, blatantly uncommercial task, then it’s Dungen, and these 14 instrumental tracks highlight all of their trademark styles—from withered jazz-rock interlude “Den Fattige Aladdin” to Mellotron-laced epic “Achmed Flyger.” Like most soundtracks, Häxan often loses its legs without a visual counterpart, and many of these riffs and grooves feel slight as stand-alone “songs”: “Trollkarlen Och Fågeldräkten,” for example, offers a menacing jazz-fusion groove but buckles with numbing repetition a couple minutes in. Still, sparks of brilliance abound: “Kalifen,” built on rippling Hammond organ chords, plays like a druggier version of Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale.” It’s easy to imagine similar tracks, fleshed out with more dynamic arrangements, as grandiose centerpieces of a more traditional LP. Despite its limitations, Häxan illustrates Dungen’s command of their retro vocabulary—sometimes looking back is the only way to move forward.