Arbogast’s second album “Certainties And Doubts” could be described as old school rockn'roll with elements of happines, anger and sadness but the lack of samples, overcompression or triggs. To make things clearer it could be claimed that the music comprises a mixture of sloppy, loud, cowboy boot rock and dark hard-rock of the older type. It has a wide emotional range, but with a clear leaning to the happier side, musically speaking at least. It is hard to say how great the range of this album is in relation to the last (“Too Proud To Stick To Winners”), but you can safely say that Arbogast is a band with quite a lot of influences. We think however that the common thread is ridiculously obvious. REVIEWS: "The lyrics here get clever, sometimes funny, and yet the next song, they'll strip it bare and rock your a** into next week. There's some really nice guitarwork here, kinda reminds me of Hanoi Rocks cuz it isn't Slash's wide-legged gonzo, it was dirty yet elegant, like Keith Richard's groove. But the real value here (aside from an album full of worthwhile moments, meaning you have to get the whole thing and play it end to end) is Svante's vocals. Warm and real, no need to showboat, he could lead this merry band of pranksters to great things." Scott Hefflon - Lollipop Magazine "Arbogast is the solo musical adventure of talented Swedish musician and songwriter Svante Widerstrom. Certainties and Doubts, his second full-length album, is a genuine stream of consciousness work, a characteristic of true individual expression. Often hard to define or pin down, the music on this album is clever, creative, and disturbingly entertaining. .....masterful and inventive guitar solos from Widerstrom and collaborator Jonas Hjortstam as discovered on Psychomath, Steal Me Some Luck, or Applause to You....this is a creative and clever work from a talented musician and songwriter." Craig Hartranft - dangerdog.com Sweden has produced a wide variety of quality musical acts that span decades and genres. From the Hall-of-Fame-worthy pop of Abba, to the American-inspired garage rock of the Hellacopters, and even the prog-infused black metal of Vintersorg, Sweden seems to have no shortage of musical luminaries. Perhaps it’s because of the lack of daylight during Swedish winter, forcing everyone inside with nothing else to do but create. Whatever the reason, it certainly seems to be working, and relative newcomers Arbogast are no exception. Arbogast’s second full-length album, Certainties and Doubts, sees band leader Svante Widerström expand on previous efforts and futher refine the “Arbogast sound.” But what is that sound? That is an interesting question, as there’s not an obvious answer. The bulk of the material has a very ‘70s-throwback feel, but almost in an inspired-by-other-70s-throwback-bands way. Many songs call to mind Spacehog, both musically and vocally, though they lack a bit of the Freddie Mercury-like stylistic meanderings of Royston Langdon. Additionally, there is a preponderance of three-chord, punk-inspired backing music, though plucked and strummed rather than noisily expelled. Humorously titled opening track “Robbed, Stripped and Glad About It” feels like a leftover from early Alice Cooper sessions, and would have worked well on Killer. Of course, Alice would doubtfully have veered away from some of the bizarre falsetto vocal stretches. This rocking song kicks the album off with a great amount of energy that the rest of the album, unfortunately, lacks. This is not to imply that the remainder is of lower quality, but after getting jolted with such a powerful track upfront, everything else seems a little lethargic. For the most part, the rest of the songs on Certainties and Doubts could almost all fall under one description—fun and quirky. Gently strummed acoustics and pop melodies help to create an album of smile-bringing ditties. “Steal Me Some Luck” would almost fit well in a Macintosh commercial, though it’s a bit less contrived than usual Mac-fare. “Psychomath” is a great piece of pop fun, reveling in its simplicity and insane catchiness. It’s unlikely that anyone will be able to get it out their head after even one listen. “Bitacora Club” and “Applause to You” bring the initial energy back to a point, but end up as electrically dominated pop-rock nonetheless. Closing track, “The Cholera Song,” with its upbeat synth melody, builds up to what feels like children’s program theme music (though going by the title, it would be a pretty dark kid’s show). While Arbogast use the simplicity and laid-back attitude to their advantage most of the time, there are points where things do become a bit redundant. Many of the vocal melodies are almost identical, and as noted before, the energy level never quite reaches beyond a mellow cheeriness. A little more power and slightly increased tempos would surely bring extra life to the songs and create a more diverse album. What is certain is that Arbogast have created a solid, pleasant album that would feel very comfortable (stylistically, if not alphabetically) between Cheap Trick and Jason Mraz—not quite as hard hitting as the first, but a bit less obvious than the second. Chock another one up to Swedish creativity. 8,6/10 Trevor Portz Hardrockhaven.net Powerplay Magazine issue 116 dec 2009/jan 2010 This sounds old, but I don't mean that in a negative way. It sounds warm, affectionate and well worn. It's like an old pair of boots that still can stomp well, y'know? Arbogast play a pleasant strain of rock music that sounds a little like the Goo Goo Dolls covering old Guns N' Roses songs, along with bits of Weezer and The Rembrants in there too. Laid back and about as inoffensive as music gets, this album is nevertheless a cool listen. When they're not sounding a bit nineties, they sound a bit seventies, and then a bit sixties, sometimes in the space of one song! The band, masterminded by frontman Svante Widerström, all put in a professional performance, and the CD sounds fantastic in terms of mix and production, allowing these uncluttered songs room to be heard properly. "Psychomath", "Steal Me Some Luck" and their ilk are all beutifully crafted songs that any fan of the aforementioned acts or even maybe the Jayhawks would get something from. It's kind of the wrong season for this kind of thing as it would be brilliant for summer. Not a bad thing at all. The music of Arbogast has a lovely classic feel to it, meaning those that get hold of their music probably enjoy it for a long time. It's a bit too safe for me personally, but these guys know what they're doing and I am sure they will find a bigger audience soon. Andrew Hawnt AT 090828 Genre: Rock/Hard Rock Rating: ☺☺☺☺ Svante Widerström, or his musical alias Arbogast, has now released his second full length album and it is, to say the least an enjoyable musical journey. This all-round musician and visual artist (see www.arbogast.se – lyrics) has featured in various musical constellations throughout the years, but it is with his own personal project that Widerström really does justice to himself. With Certainties & Doubts he has succeeded in forging a broad and highly personal musical path which should appeal equally to fans of pop-rock and metal. It is as unique as it is distinctly influenced, and as difficult as it is easily accessible. This new work has, unlike its predecessor ”Too Proud To Stick To Winners” left space for milder tones. Despite previous and somewhat more hard-rocking gems such as ”Restless Dogs United” och ”Not Be Present”, the new record creates a more personal context, and it is in fact in the more laid-back songs that Arbogast really strikes me – from the ingenious pop gem “Pschomath” via the melancholy Neil Youngesque “Once The Tip Of The Spear” to the attractively composed “Beckomberga 1944”. One might occasionally wish for a fuller production, and it would have been interesting to hear how the music would have been if recorded in a well-equipped studio. This criticism is however to be weighed against several factors, not least Svante Widerströms open-hearted and pleasingly raspy vocals. The country-flavoured “Steal Me Some Luck” is evidence enough for this claim. Musical comparisons seem meaningless here. I am satisfied to conclude that Arbogast has succeeded in the feat of combining well-chosen aspects of 60’s, 70’s and 80’s rock history exceptionally well. At the same time, all in the end this results quite simply in – Arbogast! Henric Heed