Johan Steensland
Progressive rock from Sweden where every album is its own world.
Concept albums driven by short stories, written, played and sung by hand. The third world, The Triphant, opens on 15 October 2026.
Said about the earlier volumes
Due to both drama and groove, Duality hereby enters the fight for this year’s prog rock gold.
Sweden Rock MagazineHe is never just a composer or performer — he is an author, a narrator, and sometimes even a psychologist of his own characters.
United Rock Nations · 5/5A being that almost feels alive.
Rocknytt on Crossfade · 4/5
The Triphant
The story
A painter and a computer scientist. Their random meeting opens an unexpected door to the drastic change of paths they both crave. However, change is rarely simple.
Will they? Can they? Are they willing to pay the price?
- DennisA painter
- AnikaA computer scientist
- Santa FeHigh desert, under “the most wonderful Santa Fe moon”
Two ways of experiencing The Triphant. One story. The music carries you through their choices; the accompanying audiobook lets you step inside them.
The music · two acts
- Intro
- The parade of dancing toddlers
- Stroke by stroke
- The labrat’s escape
- Save me from my dreams
- Nothing’s wrong
- Give it to me!
- The sitting
- Lay down your guns
- The calling
- Layers of skin
Pre-order the CD
The Triphant · CD · 159 SEK. Shrink-wrapped or signed by Johan. Ships after release on 15 October 2026.
Pre-order the CDWhat separates me from other prog artists?
In Johan’s own words. A foreword to every volume in the series.
I would never claim I am better. I would say, though, that there are a few things that set me apart from most prog acts.
A world for every album
The first thing that springs to mind is that each prog album I’ve made exists in its own literary as well as musical universe. They are all driven by a short story, where the characters develop throughout. That creates an immersive experience for the listener who wants to go deeper.
A sound of my own
The second thing I think of is my unique way of writing and harmonizing. I can’t find any prog out there that sounds like mine. Good or bad is not what I’m talking about. It’s about my sound, my way of putting things together. Part of it is the way I push my compositions into prog-pop and fusion. Another part is my voice. No-one sings like me (thank, God, ha ha).
The dinosaur way
A third thing is my dinosaur-way of writing, recording, editing, mixing and mastering. As a rule, I refuse a lot of the modern tools that most artists use extensively, like AI, grid aligning, auto tuning, randomizing or any kind of auto-editing. This means there will be mistakes on the albums. However, without these “mistakes”, I feel that the music dies.
— Johan Steensland
The pledge
“I pledge to give my listeners a human and organic musical experience, as far as I possibly can.”Read the full mission statement
Duality
The story
A writer researching the minds of psychopaths and killers in a lonely cabin is hit by a car on the way to a publisher. Five days later he wakes in a hospital, with no memory of who he is.
Who is this man? What does his past hide?
- EddieAn aspiring fiction-writer, known to his few friends as “Mr. Serious”
- LydiaThe nurse who takes care of him
- Upper KempHis father’s cabin, deep in the woods
What the press heard
Due to both drama and groove, Duality hereby enters the fight for this year’s prog rock gold.
Sweden Rock Magazine, no. 8, 2025He is never just a composer or performer — he is an author, a narrator, and sometimes even a psychologist of his own characters.
United Rock Nations · 5/5Composition, music and production of a very high class. I am truly impressed!
musikpulsen.se · 8/10A major step in his artistic journey and certainly his best album to date.
Prog et Plus…
Crossfade
The story
A rock opera about two people after the end: Joseph and Linda, and what happens in the aftermath of their turbulent break-up.
- 54 minutesAn advanced concept piece in the form of a rock opera
- 1985 → 2024Begun in 1985, released nearly forty years later
Guest artists: Ola Strandberg, Anton Linsjö, Owe Eriksson and Jennifer Anderson.
What the press heard
A being that almost feels alive, as it becomes clear that Johan has spent countless hours on Crossfade.
Rocknytt · 4/5His range is impressive, he has a warm voice that can sing in a powerful manner as well.
DPRP, 2025Overall a lyric-wise poignant story, and with a very competent musicianship.
Artrock · 8/10
“That man isn’t me” was a Track of the Week on Prog Magazine’s website, July 2024. · Crossfade on CD, 159 SEK
Before the series
- 2021Position MelkerAlbum
- 1999do dem slow songsEP · sold out on CD
- 1980sSheik AhmeedJohan’s Uppsala prog band, early 1980s
Johan explains prog
More than 100 prog videos and over 1,400 subscribers on YouTube: how the music is built, how it was made, and the stories of the genre.
Johan Explains
Let’s Talk
Prog StoryThe album ends. The journey continues.
Letters from Johan when a new world takes shape: release news, the stories behind the songs, and what is happening in the studio.
One letter when there is something to tell. Unsubscribe any time.