KAIPA - URSKOG
Deeply impressive album by Swedish veterans.
The opening part of The Frozen Dead of the Night sounds to these ears for all the world like one of Queen’s more operatic songs, with the Freddie role taken off to a tee. It lasts almost two minutes before normal service is resumed, and we then have a traditional Swedish symphonic sound with Hans Lundin’s keyboards leading the way.
And thus commences Urskog, the fourteenth studio release from these veterans of the scene. The album title relates to forests, and the concept relates to Lundin’s travels through miles and miles of such countryside. It is very much business as usual, with the musicianship never anything less than virtuoso, and whilst it doesn’t necessarily break any boundaries, longstanding fans of the band and this sub-genre will find a whole lot to enjoy, as, I must emphasise, did I.
The opener weighs in at an impressive 18:52 minutes, so how is that for a statement of intent? Of the six tracks here, three are 10+ minute epics, whilst the shortest is a relatively miniscule 6:14 minutes. It is safe to say that not one note of it will trouble the playlist censors on BBC Radio in the UK and that, of course, is plainly how we like it. During the opener, in a very long mid-section, there is a delicious jam featuring the impeccable Jonas Reingold at his jazz-rock infused best leading the guitars, drums, and keyboards in an extended session theme. About 12 minutes in, there is a lovely harmonious burst with the shadows singing to us before the song races along. It is perfect in that you can close your eyes and picture the protagonists running or riding through the forest in the black of night, so no light, and all the natural human fears that brings. Towards the end, though, the brightness of welcoming spring is articulated via the lyrics and music, so it is as if the band, in this opening epic, wanted to take the listener through the season’s transition from darkness to the promise of warmth and light in one fair swoop.
My favourite here, though, is the second track, In A World Of Pines, which has at its gorgeous core the lovely voice of Aleena Gibson. This track is ten minutes of pure, unadulterated pleasure. Lundin leads us into the track via a grandiose overture lasting a minute, before a delicate piano introduces Alleena’s voice. The video/song is embedded below, and if you have not had the chance to hear any of the album, then please do enjoy this track. Just when you think that the scales her voice reach cannot be sustained, she does it. The lyrics themselves are as poetical as they come, and the track gives one a sense of wilderness and beauty in their native Sweden, and that beauty is very much exemplified by a fantastic performance on lead guitar by Per Nilsson. The final minute is as grandiose as we love, and the whole song is a triumph and one of my favourite pieces of music in 2022.
The title track itself brings with it a distinct, and very noticeable, change of mood and tempo. Elin Rubinsztein guests on strings, and she brings a mournful mood to the opening passage. As the track progresses, we get a more traditional keyboard swirling above a mean bassline. When the vocals kick in just short of three minutes in, they are in Swedish. I cannot translate these, but the overall sense I get of this track is that of a deep, dark, and difficult to penetrate mass of arboreal life. The mellotron adds to the mournful feel and this is a piece which requires some patient listening, because it is very clever in its portrayal, and as a counterpoint to the joy of the preceding track, very effective.
Wilderness Excursion is an instrumental and a jazzier affair, with Reingold again leading the way with his expressive bass then leading into the entire collective giving us their contribution. There are some deep, swirling, angry keyboards which encapsulate the wilderness very well, but the track also has its lighter moments. Helped along by the expressive rhythm section, the track fairly races along and is enjoyable.
The shortest track is In The Wastelands of my Mind, and despite the somewhat downbeat nature of the title, the returning violin at the intro gives the song a delightfully sunny disposition, as do the vocals and lyrics talking as they do of “dancing down the lane”, although we do also have “raining in my heart”, all in “the wastelands of my mind”. This is a nice, pastoral, piece of music, quite clearly deeply personal, and a highlight of the album.
We are back to 15+ minutes for the closing track, The Bitter Setting Sun. This starts off with a classic Kaipa section of symphonic progressive rock. A minute in, the mood darkens somewhat with a pulsating riff, very much driven along by a memorable drum pattern by Darby Todd, new to Kaipa and who I believe is presently to be seen touring with the legendary Martin Barre. When the vocals talking of autumn leaves falling arrive three minutes in, the piece becomes more reflective and thoughtful, again very nicely giving us a picture of travelling through the lovely countryside with one last throw of the summer dice before the season disappears for another year. Again, the moods change nicely to keep us engaged, with trad Swedish prog interspersed with jazz and harder rock, but always very good, and the closing minute fills you with a warm feeling as the music surrounds the room and your inner thoughts. “Feel the magic in the air”, indeed.
This is an impressive album and I really enjoy it. Whether it will attract an army of new fans is probably somewhat doubtful, but for those who have listened to them for several years, then there is much to take pleasure from, and that is no bad thing at all. By the way, there is a very good interview on The Progressive Aspect with co-founder and sole survivor Lundin which you might wish to check out at https://theprogressiveaspect.net/blog/2022/05/02/hans-lundin-kaipa/?fbclid=IwAR0hJwHIpUGIdKdVeuThL79LY1IsAJ7oKcg_IpSj29DDcRpY9ndHODeWh7U