KAIPA

If I counted correctly KAIPA arrives in this year at fifteen albums released. What about with this latest installment, did they finally stand out from Roine's weight?

'The Frozen Dead of the Night' to have fun and realize that the KAIPA sound has evolved; layered keyboards from Hans, a guitar from Per that stands out, fruity, twirling and Patrik who uses his voice like a certain QUEEN singer. 'In a World of Pines' for the voice of Aleena, beautiful but which requires getting used to the vocal duality. 'Urskog' for being sung in the mother tongue. 'Wilderness Excursion' for the slap of the album, let me explain: it starts out jazzy-prog and it irritates my hair, I don't see the point even if it's nervous and well done; then it really starts around 3 minutes for a punchy instrumental; well nothing new but a title ... well done. 'In the Wastelands of My Mind' which bluffs its audience with an intro where the shadow of KANSAS floats, ah this violin; then the addition of the acoustic guitar gives new blood, it's still beautiful but always in the same vein. 'The Bitter Setting Sun' for the epic piece, a condensed, progressive melting-pot of what can be good in this slightly sclerotic world, beautiful flights of synths, rhythm guitar, solo, a sax that is reminiscent of the 70's and 80's; in short, beautiful things that also turn irremediably in circles.

KAIPA has therefore released a beautiful album of progressive rock, the kind of music that brings back and recalls the work of the great elders, from GENESIS to YES in particular. It's professional but/and it reminds me a little too much of the magnificent opuses of FLOWER KINGS, SPOCK'S BEARD and other Neal MORSE; it is in the continuity of a de facto symphonic prog rock, to be listened to preferably during the long winter nights. I can already hear the old progs throwing stones at me, while they unfortunately forget that this music could be shortened a bit to reach an audience, otherwise the prog will go into deep lethargy.

The Flower Kings have become one of my bread and butters. They usually deliver some great A+ Prog that leaves me wanting more. Their lead Roine Stolt has sort of became the mastermind behind many Prog outfits such as Transatlantic and The Tangent. This masterminded aspect of his work even goes far back into the 70s with a band that has gained very high recognition in modern light throughout the years, and that band is Kaipa. I heard a ton of stuff surrounding them, mostly good stuff about them, but I also heard that after they broke up in the 80s, they no longer had Roine Stolt's help anymore, which made me pretty interested on how a band that had one of Prog's biggest faces can achieve such marvelous praise throughout their life after their reunion in the early 2000s. With their release of their new album, Urskog, I knew it'd be very fitting to dive into the band for the first time and hear what they have to offer.

Starting things off is The Frozen Dead of the Night. This starts the album strong, with a very great 18 minute epic that immediately shows off the album's themes of the changing seasons, starting with the change of Winter to Spring. This song also introduces the band's more keyboard and guitar driven stylization where they combine the use of guitars and keyboards to create very symphonic and organic sounding melodies. I also applaud how uniquely they sound, usually bands like this have a smoother, more water-like flow with their music, but here it is a lot more rhythmic, which is a nicer change of pace than what is usually done, and I like that a whole lot. I also do enjoy how the beginning loops back around to a reprisal for the ending, closing the song with a nice payoff, though I find it a tad weak and would prefer something else, but otherwise it is a great song to start the album with.

Next is In a World of Pines. Keeping up with the same flow as the song before, we are now fully developed in Spring, with that we have lyrics based on growth and going forward despite a world filled with thorny and spiky pine trees. I really like the interpretation and use of nature within the lyrics because it allows the use of relating things in the world like societal issues or personal conflicts with more nature focused metaphors as a veil. Plus, Aleena Gibson's vocals really set those lyrics to some strong heights. The instrumentation styles are similar to the first song, but with a little acoustic bits to spice things up. Pretty dang good.

Next up is the title track, Urskog. It's rare to hear a Swedish Prog band sing in their native language, so hearing a song sung in Swedish is pretty cool. Anyways, this song is another gemstone of a song, super rhythmically grand, super catchy, and just super well done all around. What I love most about this song is the drums. I feel like drummer Darby Todd is on his top game here and really drives the song to some really cool movements that I really love, so it definitely gets a thumbs up for me.

After that we got Wilderness Excursion. Now I feel like here is where I start to feel some problems with this album. Obviously this band has a really good and fun style, however they seem to not stray away or try new things all that much with it and it is evident with this song. After 3 great songs that are similar in tone and feel, I'd expect a little change, but when I got to this song, I was a tad let down. Obviously I liked their sound so I wasn't mad or sad about anything drastically changing, but I did expect something a bit more, and I guess that's the main issue with the album, it's a bit closed minded with its sound. It feels a bit formulaic and doesn't use the genre of Prog to create something a bit more fresh. I am not saying that they should pick oranges off a branch when you were picking apples before, I'm just saying that they should pick different types of apples, if that makes sense. Anyways, besides that I do think this song is quite good, the sound they create is super fun and with its instrumental focus, we can get a good understanding on how the band creates their sound a little more, which I dig a lot.

Next is In The Wastelands of My Mind. Now this is something I wanted for a bit. When I first heard the intro with that whirly keyboard, I knew I was in for something neat. I have always been a fan of bands taking inspiration in sound from other regions in the world, like Japanese bands taking notes on British and American psych bands who were also taking notes on stuff like Indian music and sometimes German krautrock bands. It's always fun to hear bands doing their homework and using it to create some great songs. Here you can hear a mix of more French violin styles with a more Spanish sounding guitar. Those two aspects of the song really helped this album shine way more, where Wilderness Excursion left me wanting for something more, this song redeemed the faults of the former and really allowed this album to really be one of my favorites. And I have to say, more bands should really use more Spanish guitar, it just sounds super good and I bet they can do some great stuff with that instrument.

That ain't the last song though, there is one more and that is a 15 minute epic, The Bitter Setting Sun. If you liked the songs before, you'll very much like this one. It continues that rhythmic symphonic rock sound from the last several songs while continuing the themes of seasons and personal growth throughout, leading to a climactic finish where we loop right back around to Winter, after we and the band grew to new heights through the album. While the ending of the song could've use some work, it definitely felt like it ended a bit abruptly, I felt like it was a great payoff for this album, simple, effective, and gets the point across for its themes. Instrumentally, it's sorta the same as songs before, but that's fine at this point, though it's a little cut and dry. Overall a very good closing for a very good album.

So far, this has to be my favorite album of 2022. There has been a lot of good ones, but this one definitely does a lot of things right to where I could see this becoming my favorite of the year, especially how it's structured and how it plays out, though we're still only halfway through the year so this very well may change, but right now this has been a very good ride despite its faults.

In my view, the more recent albums by Kaipa can't be compared to their early material, since they lack in the guitar department the original and sheer intensity of Roine Stolt.

Having said that, there is still a lot of musical quality infusing each track of this album: the vocalists are really good, even when I must confess that the alternation between male and female voices is not my favorite feature here, and the vocals in the beginning are too much in a Freddie Mercury vein to my taste, since that doesn't sound very authentic. Also the keyboards are good, supporting the vocalists with tasteful, yet really predictable, layers of harmonic grandeur, and alterning with the electric guitar, the violin and the sax in the solos. The rhythm section sounds perfectly capable of handling a wide variety of pace and accent changes, bringing a fine sense of dynamics and energy to the mix.

Anyway, in total honesty, I can't really say that I've found anything else than a good amusing time listening to this album, and the excellence certainly requires more. Originality, boldness, inspiration, who knows, but something seems to be missing.

'Keyholder' is a really, really good symphonic prog album by the Swedish band Kaipa, the country's first major prog act, known for a couple of very well-received 70s albums in the vein of Yes and Genesis. The band's 21st century resurgence is the deed of keyboardist and vocalist Hand Lundin and guitarist Roine Stolt (who played with them in the 70s, when he was just a teenage guitar prodigy) - and normally, while the music reminisces the symphonic explorations of the old Kaipa, it also strongly resembles another major act from Sweden - Roine Stolt's very own The Flower Kings (this should come as no surprise, since Jonas Reingold has been handling the bass duties in Kaipa ever since their reunion).

Released in 2003, on Inside Out Music, 'Keyholder' is a very interesting case, and a good example of the present-day album length phenomenon, when a single-disc record can have the length of a classic 70s double album. With just some seconds over the seventy-eight-minute mark, this very intricate, exhaustive, and often mind-blowing collection of songs is, in fact, equaling the playtime of records like 'Third' by Soft Machine or 'Tales From Topographic Oceans' by Yes, just to give an example of how long this one really is.

The all-star line-up and the wacky, almost comical, album art are two prerogatives indicating that 'Keyholder' is going to be an interesting undertaking for the curious listener, who unfortunately might end up slightly disappointed, tired and even confused. This last statement comes after the realization that if we split the album into two halves (with each half being represented by the first and the final four songs respectively), we will get one pretty excellent almost-forty-minute ride of prog extravaganza, with the first four compositions, and one more repetitive, overplayed and less engaging-and-entertaining side, represented by the latter four songs on the track list.

Opener 'Lifetime of a Journey' has some otherworldly instrumentation that could easily rival the most technical of moments we may hear on a Yes or on an ELP album - simply mind-blowing, intense, and cathartic playing from Lundin, Stolt, and Reingold. The next track 'A Complex Work of Art' continues to impress with the fabulous harmonies and chemistry between the bass, the drums, and all the keyboards. The vocals, however, are not necessarily compelling, and ruin what could have otherwise been a prog classic. 'The Weed of All Mankind' is another energetic composition, full of astonishing keys and gorgeous guitars - so far, the instrumental sections on the album are above sublime, with everyone in the band playing 'at the top of their game'. 'Sonic Pearls' is a little bit more relaxing and slower, compared to the previous musical fiesta. Once again, Stolt impresses quite a lot. Then comes 'End of the Rope', a great song that had the potential to be even more enjoyable had it not been overlong (and dare I say, overplayed). 'Across the Big Uncertain' is not very interesting, feels like a bit of a drag, and put against the rest of the album, is plain filler. Same concern goes for the final track, 'Otherworldly Brights', while the 13-minute 'Distant Voices' is a much better offering, as Kaipa go back to tremendous playing.

A good album, an enjoyable listen for the most part, and full of fantastic ideas (some of which get washed out by the occasional overplaying and over-symphonization), 'Keyholder' will thrill some and frighten others (let's not forget how long the record is, with its whopping seventy-eight minutes). There are tons of phenomenal keyboard and guitar moments, lovely interplay between the bass and the drums, and it seems the vocals and the songwriting (on specific tracks) are the only lows of what is certainly a crazy album by a band full of incredibly skilled musicians.

At this stage, with the debut album, Kaipa shows promising musicianship but haven't developed their own signature sound yet, you can hear many influences from other premiere prog-rock bands. Kaipa can however already boast about fluid guitar playing that has a lot of emotions as well as vocal sung in Swedish. Keyboards sound quite undistinguished and focus is on more traditional playing on organs, Hammond and mellotron, less on synths. Playing is not that equilibristic yet and prefers colours to speed. Some of the exceptions is synth soloing in "Allting har sin början" We can hear folk influence in the instrumental "Skogspromenad". Classical music also has its place on the record, mainly as chord sequence and some Hammond arrangements. Two other highlights are the long pieces "Se var morgon gry" with plenty of symphonic instrumental interplay keyboard/guitar and "Oceaner föder liv" with dynamic guitar and Hammond runs.

A highly recommended delicate piece of Swedish prog.

This album captures the band at the peak of their exploration ride and belongs to the most essential Swedish progressive rock albums of the 70's. The band managed to create a right balance between energetic and more emotional melancholic parts, mainly uses instrumental power although singing in Swedish is not bad either. Playing is very competent with aggressive sound by bass guitar, sometimes also coupled with guitar. Keyboards have many faces from more traditional organ and piano to the contemporary first league Moog/synths/mellotron and even modern electric piano, clavinet and Fender Rhodes. He can create a powerful atmosphere. The band manages to create their own sound and emotions. The first composition is very representative, it has classical music influence, a few hard-rock elements but first of all, it is original and sounds like Kaipa. Instrumental parts like 12-13th minute or 17th minute are very pleasant to listen and completely different from each other. Guitar playing by the young Roine Stolt is melodic, tasty and emotional. And as I said, the keyboard player is so versatile with his array of keyboards. The other tracks are also very good, although shorter. They are melodic and well constructed. Listen to the typical Swedish prog sound in "Korståg" which has the smoking guitar and is purely instrumental. "Dagens Port" is a very symphonic and solemn track with strong chords structure given by keyboards.

The last track is the title track and it is a more reflective track with a sliding guitar motive that is mellow but typical Stolt's.

Highly recommended and one of a kind.

This Swedish symphonic prog group (dating back from the mid-seventies) plays a mixture of fusion-prog and Swedish folk. Add a layer of seventies glam-prog singing and endless lines of virtuoso fusion-metal guitar and you get the picture. This album is perfectly produced (oh boy, does it sound thick and steady) and the band is really tight, both in playing as in stylistic continuity. The talent and fiery motivation of all involved is felt throughout. I own the InsideOut 2LP and this label never lets us down with well printed vinyls and nice artwork.

Kaipa makes compositions in which the verses and the refrains serve only as a main body for the long list of themes, variations and solo's it has to offer. The folky themes sounded a bit cheesy at first, but I kind of came around and started liking them a lot. It's quite interesting how Kaipa found this natural sounding mix of fusion and folk. The male and female vocals by Gibson and Lundstrum are a bit over the top, but never disruptive of the flow of the music. Though 'Sattyg' means darkness, this album will function as a feel-good and girlfriend friendly album in collection. Kaipa doesn't seem to want to impose its seriousness on the listener - in stead offering pleasantness in a high-temp and highly technical fashion. The lead themes on keyboards sound like a distorted fuzz guitar. The 'real' electric guitars by Per Nilsson are however well distinguishable, for he is one of the genre most technically gifted players. The over- abundance of his technical yet harmonically safe solo's diminishes the impact a bit though. The last track 'Without Time - Beyond Time' could have easily been left out without damaging this otherwise excellent album.

Conclusion. This album will not impress with the soul crushing impact of its individual parts, but as a whole its extremely pleasant and easy to listen to. You have to get a sense of the fun of it all. Don't bother about the lyrics or the grander scheme of it. This is fusion- folk-prog played by the greatest the progressive genre has to offer and I liked it more then I ever would have thought. I don't expect to buy another Kaipa LP though and had I already owned more Kaipa records like this one, I probably would have never rated it with four stars.

I just found out that I wrote a review for this album some...five years ago and never uploaded it. So...

Another Kaipa / TFK album ? My answer is definitely yes ! Even if Roine is not there...

An excellent opening number full of energy, melody, symphony augurs very well of a very good album. The only minus point is that this track could have been on each of the (very) long TFK story. Same sort of fine vocal harmony, same sort of 'Yes' feel, same sort of excellent guitar breaks. But I 've been hearing this quite a few times already (being 'Kaipa' or 'TFK').

The problem is that after this very good opening, the rest of the album is quite flat and not really worth your attention. There are melancholic vocals, some folkish atmosphere ('In The Heart'' or the short 'Folkia's First Decision'), sweet guitar etc. But at the end of the day; this sounds too much of the same. And it is not the first time that I can come with this conclusion while reviewing a 'Kaipa' album.

As a passionate of the symphonic genre, there are of course some very good moments, but globally this sounds too much repetitive and finally a lack of creativity is severely felt while listening to this album.

The best to depict this is probably the epic 'Electric Power Water Notes' which is full of all the clich's we would like to disappear. Some call this retro-prog; I call this prog with little innovation. You name it.

This album is also much, much too long to raise the interest from start to finish. At least it is my opinion. Over seventy minutes of about the same is quite a long exercise when you have to concentrate on the music to write a review about it.

An EP would have been sufficient to translate the ideas of 'Kaipa' here. As such, I can't be as optimistic as some of my fellow reviewers. By no means is this a poor album, but in terms of creativity it is a desert. Only die-hard 'Kaipa' or TFK fans can really elevate this work to the prog Walhalla. I am just an average one of them.

What comes after 'Electric Power''is rather average and isn't really worth a mention. Fillers all the way through IMHHO ('The Words Are Like Leaves'). One great opening song, a decent epic: this is how I can best summarize this album.

There are little to no surprise while listening to this album. But this is probably what the fans are expecting. But I was expecting a bit more. Still, three stars sound legitimate ('Arcs Of Sound' is not too bad after all).

There are stinkers like Timmar Av Glas on this album. But I found it an interesting listen. I really started to like the title track Nattdjurstid, but mainly on an outre rock level. The pulsing bass and saw mill guitar were really catchy. Skipping right over the aforementioned Timmar Av Glas , the next song that catches my interest is Zepapo. I like a little funk now and then. (Funk guitar can be pretty fun to play.) Of course, I like the wild distorted guitar and the interludes of spacey keyboards that make a little cool jazz interludes, which really make the song a better listen. Identitetkris starts out like techno pop, but it quickly adds some dischordant and fanfare keyboard motifs which kind of sound like something in the general area of Alan Parsons, Saga, some of what you could hear from Steve Hackett, and even kind of themes the Steve Morse might have played.

I have to say I don't mind the aggressive vocals nor the brief interludes of straight pop elements, because Kaipa here was pretty good about not just leaving you there. Inam oss has to be seen as pretty much an attempt at New Wave, which I don't think fails.

I remember the 80s as a prog fan. It was no surprise to see yet another band let you down and start producing something more current. And we heard a lot of "Our music has changed". So I can understand the disgust with this album. On the otherhand Kaipa wasn't ever a band I listened to. And the more aggressive tone I heard on this album surprised me, beacause Kaipa usually runs a little twee for me. I saw this come up in my Spotify recommendations, and I was giving it a couple of tracks, because I didn't recognize it, and the difference between what I expected and what I heard, and what I thought was interesting enough to spin through it a couple times.

I think it's really an interesting attempt to maintain some semblance of music integrity at the same time as trying to stay alive in the market. I'm pretty sure it's at this time that Kerry Livgren of Kansas started writing his per-album record-companies-suck-song, so I've always chalked it up to increased pressure by record companies on all fronts.

With an excellent lineup of experienced, confident, virtuosic instrumentalists it'd be hard to create "bad" music. My usual problem with KAIPA, the vocals, seems a non-issue here as I like this music. Yes, the vocals are often a bit over-the-top classic rock like STYX or 707, but the instrumental work by these amazing veterans can even make these slights pale. Keys, guitars, bass, and drums are wonderful throughout! plus, excellent sound production. If it weren't for the fact that this is Neo Prog, this might be a contender for Album of the Year. (Neo Prog, unfortunately, implies an innate use and supposed exploration of older styles and sounds.) Still, this is, in my humble opinion, far better than IQ or recent MAGENTA efforts.

1. "Children Of The Sounds" (11:31) excellent lead guitar work soloing over and between some very standard, unexceptional Neo Prog sound. I'm reminded of 1980s hairband LOVERBOY on more than one occasion as well as Roine Stolt's THE FLOWER KINGS (the early years). The serious commitment to good sound and solid, tight performances on this one outweigh the weakness of lack of originality. (8.5/10)

2. "On The Edge Of New Horizons" (17:10) Something more interesting about this beginning--slightly angular arpeggi and chord progressions? Jonas being let out of his cage? Drums feeling a part of the mix instead of separate from? The scaled down vocal section after the more dynamic instrumental introduction section also sounds cool. The vocal has the tendency to go over the top but the unusual melody lines keep me interested. In the fifth minute an electric piano-based section takes over and builds, leading to some nice electric guitar and gtr/kbd tandem soloing. Another cool melodic choice in the vocals at the end of the sixth minute--kind of GINO VANELLI-like. The next odd tempo-ed, jazzed up section has some nice band interplay beneath a soloing guitar. The vocal that eventually joins in during this section kind of loses me, but the bass, organ, and acoustic guitars keep me engaged. MOTH VELLUM comes to mind during this section--before the instrumental section at the end of the ninth minute. Organ and mandolin-sounding acoustic guitar make for a nice folk melody section (though the background power chords from the guitar are a distraction). Nice guitar solo in section that follows (eleventh minute) (drums, too). Break in action for syncopated hits from various instruments leads back into a YES-like section of constantly dancing chords all synchronized among keys and background guitars, multi-voiced vocals and electric guitar taking turns in the lead. Nice section. I'm glad they chose to draw this one out. And I must point out the chance that the drums have to shine throughout. With about two and a half minutes left, things quiet down while Jonas moves into the higher octaves of his bass and the multi-voiced singing continues making it's STYX-like contributions. The best song on the album. (9.25/10)

3. "Like A Serpentine" (12:52) a slow, simple opening three minutes plods and disappoints in a kind of MOTH VELLUM way as it never seems to go anywhere. Until the fifth minute when the wonderful lead guitar brings us into a new place. Despite this performance, the song wants to drag on and drag out its opening pace and structure. Not even the folk-pop violin-led section or the participation of Aleena Gibson in the lead vocal seat can save it. (7.5/10)

4. "The Shadowy Sunlight" (6:57) opening like a 18th century masqued ball song intrigues and interests this music lover. But then things go folk rock with violin and drums entering and bringing us into the 21st Century. It sounds a lot like IONA here! The music then falls away leaving us with pulsing bass and bass drum and synth washes setting an ominous scene. Aleena's whispered voice sounds just as unsettling. But then she starts to sing as the music beneath her becomes more insistent and emergent. Electric guitar tries to steal the show again but Aleena and the rest of the band remain steadfast, slowly building momentum. (8/10)

5. "What's Behind The Fields" (9:31) organ dominated full-band chord sequence opening this song sounds a lot like old URIAH HEEP. Electric guitar lead enters to inform the song with some melodic noodles to cover the chords. Then things fall away and become very familiar. It's MOON SAFARI! Blomljud! With these odd instruments it makes me realize for the first time how have refrained from letting/making Jonas Reingold's fretless bass play dominate the music mix. I actually have to search to pick out his work. I find myself disappointed that the original chord sequence and vocal melody built over the top of it have been chosen to dominate this song. The vocal here is almost grating in the same way that MIKE RUTHERFORD's friend NOEL MCCALLA could do on Smallcreep's Day. A fair song but not great--despite the excellent guitar shredding over the top in those final minutes. (7.5/10)

3.5 stars; a nice contribution to prog world--especially to the Neo Prog lexicon.