Hällas

Hällas have played some unlikely places over the past few years. There was the time the Swedish retro-prog five piece rocked up at a biker club summer festival. Or the tiny former public toilet in Leipzig which turned into a techno venue after they’d finished. Weirdest of all was the night they found themselves playing a German fetish club.

“It was right after the pandemic and many places were already booked, so we ended up in this sex club,” says bassist and vocalist Tommy Alexandersson. “We came in backstage and there were all these harnesses and gynaecological chairs.”

“It was actually a regular rock audience,” adds keyboard player Nicklas Malmqvist. “But right after we finished the latex people arrived. We met them at the door. They were, like, ‘What are they doing here?’”

While making sex dungeon music could have been a nice side hustle, Hällas – completed by guitarists Rickard Swahn and Marcus Petersson plus drummer Kasper Eriksson – have wisely stuck to what they know best. Specifically, richly vivid progressive rock that draws on such 70s greats as Genesis, ELP, Gentle Giant, Camel and Family as well as heavier acts such as Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. It’s a one-band genre they’ve dubbed “adventure rock”.

“When we started, there were a lot of bands playing heavy metal and a lot of bands playing progressive rock, so we needed something to make us stick out,” explains Tommy.

Knowingly hokey description aside, theirs is a heady sound that has evolved over the four albums they’ve released since forming in the Swedish city of Linköping in the early 2010s. Their first three full-length records, 'Excerpts From A Future Past' (2017), 'Conundrum' (2020) and 'Isle Of Wisdom' (2022), were a trilogy centred around a medieval knight named Hällas on a quest to find the meaning of life. Their similarly conceptual new album 'Panorama' leaves Hällas behind in favour of a new story, albeit a linked one based on a minor character from their debut album. “It’s in the same universe,” says Niklas. “Like //Star War//s and…”

'The Phantom Menace' ? “Oh, no, no,” he says horrified.

It’s allegorical, of course, dealing with the hollowed-out nature of modern society, personal suffering and “the root of evil”. More importantly, 'Panorama' opens with the brilliantly mad 21-minute 'Above The Continuum', a song which itself kicks off with a section best described as ‘prog-disco’.

“No, it’s straight out disco,” says Tommy with a laugh. “We’ve thought about doing it in the past, but we’ve always backed off. But this time we wanted to have fun creating music without any boundaries, without telling us what to do. We actually had a reggae part on this record,” he adds, “but it fell off.”

The rest of //Panorama// is no less bold in its refusal to bow in the face of potential ridicule – something that extends to the band’s all-white outfits.

“People can see us and laugh at us, but we’re not joking,” says Niklas. “This is who we are. You can be serious and still have fun.” 

- Dave Everley

PROG FILE

Line-up:  Tommy Alexandersson (vocals/bass), Rickard Swahn (guitar), Marcus Petersson (guitar), Nicklas Malmqvist (organ/synthesizer), Kasper Eriksson (drums)

Sounds like: Half a dozen 70s prog bands jamming in a Swedish disco.

Current release: 'Panorama' (Äventyr Records)

Website: Hällas