The Flower King’s mailing list was buzzing for a few days already with rumors, with guitarist, writer and producer Roine Stolt steering away from acknowledging them. But last Friday the official news was out: The Flower Kings are reuniting in 2012 after a five year hiatus. A new album can be expected in June and a European tour will start around September. Their first re-union gig will be at the Sweden Rock Festival on June the 7th.
A quote on the new album, taken from the press release on the band’s website:
The yet unnamed album has a 23 min epic centerpiece and the material is all classic Flowerkings style with all the dreamy melodic & cinematic elements that the bands fans has come to love over the years, but also contain some heavier psychedelic music and some darker hi energy material.
Among the familiar names Roine Stolt, Tomas Bodin, Jonas Reingold and Hasse Fröberg is also a new kid on the block: the 26 year-old Berliner Felix Lehrmann, who will perform the drumming duties in the new line-up. At the bottom of this post you’ll find a YouTube video with Felix Lehrmann in action with his fusion trio “Rim Job”. When I listen to his style, he can be compared to a heavier, more technical version of TFK’s previous drummer Zoltan Csörsz.
Personally I am looking forward very much to the new album. I have been enjoying the several solo efforts and side projects from the band members like Agents of Mercy (Roine, Jonas), Karmakanic (Jonas), Eggs and Dogs (Tomas) and Hasse Fröberg Musical Companion but somehow these projects don’t move and excite me as much as a Flower Kings album. I guess that the synergy of the band members makes that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Felix Lehrmann Fusion Drum Solos 2010