ad dios

Sometimes ad dios are mentioned or, in other ways, seen in different media. We would like to give you three recent examples of this; the first is a review from USA, the second is a press item in a Danish magazine and the third comes from a streaming radio website. > Tolkien-inspired music is full of surprises. Just when you think every note has been played, every genre done to death, something new and interesting rears its head. This is certainly the case with the two CDs that fell into my lap for review earlier this month. A Journey through Middle-earth is the sixth full-length release by Ad Dios. Self-described as “instrumental music inspired by myths and ancient landscapes,” these veteran Swedish progressivists offer an aesthetically pleasing blend of organic and electronically-realized melodies, each expressive of a different location encountered in LotR (e.g., Old Forest, Lothlorien, Osgiliath, Anduin). No tired new age lethargy here. Ad Dios set a brisk walking pace with their opening leitmotif and maintain it consistently throughout the 61-minute pilgrimage. (Favorable comparisons with Bo Hansson’s 1970 classic, Sagan om ringen, are tempting.) There is nothing hackneyed or contrived about the instrumentation of this material. It is suggestive

During the years ad dios has been a part of several projects which, for different reasons, never did leave the studio. In the late 90s we played quite a lot live, and at one of the gigs we met the talented harpist Ray Adams (something of a Swedish Loreena McKennit). Together with Göran Thörnblad, another great musician playing the didgeridoo, we formed a constellation called Travelers. We played some of Ray´s music, and some of our own. The nearly forgotten gem we present this time is one of the few existing recordings of Travelers, and comes from a rehearsal session. Probably you will recognize the song, Rocky Shore? The musical structure of this track comes from The Sacrifice, on the Avalon album, and the lyrics are written by Ray. Rocky Shore, Travelers – mp3 Archive greetings, ad dios See also: Ray Adams

The traditional CD album is still the most common way of distributing the music of ad dios. But since we live in a world of constant change the number of listeners who prefer the digital form (such as mp3 and mp4, for instance) are indeed increasing all the time. Though it does not end with the actual format of media… Many people have discovered the functional aspect of the music as well. Therefore you might find our songs in many different contexts throughout Europe. Do not be surprised when attending your next yoga class or seminar, hearing a song from ad dios. Others listen to the music while studying or driving their car. Or when visiting their dentist, physiotherapist or enjoying a massage. Or to gain focus before a demanding sport effort or relaxing after a day at the office. To read more about this aspect, and listen, see the heading Functional music here above. Adapted regards, ad dios

Quite often we get the question how the music is created, which is rather a tricky one to answer. But we will give it a go… The musical ideas are most often composed during free-form sessions when visiting the south west of England and Wales, or in our studio in the Swedish countryside. During this phase we try to collect as many ideas as possible, not prejudging or categorizing them. To illustrate this follows two first drafts from our last trip to Port Isaac, Cornwall (we lurk behind the two windows of the white buidling in the middle of the picture below). The drafts were preliminary named Malabar from a coffee brand which became a favourite at the time. Malabar 1 – mp3 Malabar 2 – mp3 After this stage we choose a few ideas, from a sort of instinctive knowing, and begin to develop them. Sometimes with a starting position in a landscape scenery, myth or legend, or perhaps inspiration from litterature or film. All the time we keep our minds open to the other, not yet chosen, ideas or even to new ones that might turn up. A most creative period of developing music, and often extremely gratifying.

Few things are as nice as lying in the shade with a good book on a summer’s day! Last Christmas we recommended some litterature, and if you have not yet had the chance to read it, the time might have come… : ) If you already have done that, and would like to to explore the myths and landscape from our Avalon-trilogy, there are two (or three) other authors we recommend. While travelling in Britain we have visited a lot of ancient places and monuments. Most of these we have found in the books by Janet & Colin Bord. In their masterpiece, Mysterious Britain, you get to learn locations and stories of sites all over Britain. Chapters such as ‘The standing stones and circles of prehistory’ and ‘Earthworks on the hilltops’ give you a clue of what it is all about. Another chapter is dedicated to Glastonbury – really a place you must not miss; see below. Our other recommendation is an author who actually is living in Glastonbury; Geoffrey Ashe. He wrote The Quest for Arthur´s Britain in 1968, and has ever since combined ancient myths with arceo- logical facts in search of the truth about the legend of