[Kοmmun2, 2016]
Intro: Ilias Goumagias
Translation: Alexandros Mantas
27 / 10 / 2016
On the night of 12th February of the current year, Agusa gave their Greek fans an unforgettable underground concert experience (link). Undoubtedly the popularity they achieved in our country was quite unexpected by them. In the wake of this night, the live album entitled Katarsis serves as a souvenir and simultaneously as a tribute to the Greek audience.
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Just a poke
Katarsis is a live recording that functions, in a sense, as a synopsis of the hitherto course of the band. Its mere 32-minute duration and the commune-aura it emanates, leave no room for mistake that this band lives and breathes playing live, which through the 70s experimentations reaches its desired artistic goal: the catharsis they seek for themselves. It adds also another building block to the foundations of their little, modern psychedelic legend.
If we browse for a release in the psych-prog genre with a similar philosophy, we would run into “Just a poke” of Sweet Smoke. A live album with two sidelong compositions (Uti vår hage and Kärlek från Agusa), where the band improvises psychedelically on main themes. The Scandinavian aura of Agusa is ever-present in addition to the artwork. The imposing groove, the constant interaction between the hammond, the flute and the guitar, the occasional blending of all three at some parts, outbreaks and moments of dismantlement, all these collaborate to the characteristically natural, raw, fairy-tale feeling of the album. If the first song of the band’s stunning debut (Högtid) was more or less expected, the way that the 14-minute version (of the originally 3-minute song) of Kärlek från Agusa is captured here, makes Katarsis even more special.
Leaving aside the fact that Katarsis serves as a “souvenir” for all of us who were privileged to see them live that night, it is also a release where Agusa’s honesty and deep devotion to the 70s sound are evident, without a trace of pretentiousness, which in the course of time will find its own, special place.
7.5 / 10
Ilias Goumagias
2nd opinion
This live release brings back memories and images from that night-to-remember at six d.o.g.s. club on the 12th of February of the current year (link). A night when the Swedish psych / progsters took us through their magical melodies and fiery jamming back to an era that many of us didn’t experience, the legendary early 70s. Katarsis comprises of two extended renditions of Uti vår hage and Kärlek från Agusa, two compositions off their debut album Högtid. Jenny Puerta’s flute adorns the respective studio versions and the added jamming that stretches out the duration of the songs, pushes the outcome to a higher level, while absorbing the listener into the unique world of Agusa. An album that, aside from being enjoyable, serves perfectly as a link to their next album.
9 / 10
Paris Gravouniotis
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