URSKOG

For some reason or another it has been years since I last reviewed Kaipa, and I actually think Roine Stolt was still playing with them back then but he left some years ago, which means the only founder member still there is keyboard players Hans Lundin. However, since they reformed in 2000 there has been some wonderful consistency with singers Patrik Lundström and Aleena Gibson plus bassist Jonas Reingold having been there throughout, and then guitarist Per Nilsson replacing Roine in 2006. The only recent change is the departure of drummer Morgan Ågren who left the band prior to this album as he was unable to commit to the recording, so he has now been replaced by Darby Todd (Devin Townsend, The Darkness, Gary Moore, Martin Barre etc.).

Apparently, most of the songs were written in 2018 when Hans was working on the six CD set 'Hans Lundin: The Solo Years', and listening to his older songs influenced what he was working on, and in some cases he actually took a fragment of an old song and turned it into something new as well as sampling some '80's sounds which were included. It would be very easy for people to say Kaipa cannot exist without Stolt, especially as he has formed Kaipa Da Capo, but unless he is working with another very strong individual it is very easy for Roine to turn the band into The Flower Kings, which is why Transatlantic work so well as there are four musicians who all have their own very strong identities. Pers is a very fluid and enjoyable guitarist who is not Roine and so consequently plays in a quite different manner but with Hans at the helm as he has since the very beginning some 50 years ago, this is most definitely Kaipa. There are some wonderful instrumental passages on this album, with "In A World Of Pines" containing some fine examples with both Pers and Hans having a blast with some wonderful runs, while Jonas delivers the melodic and bouncing basslines we have all come to expect. Darby may be a new member of this band, but he has worked with different progressive and metal bands over the years and he has fitted in incredibly well, not sounding like a newbie at all as he brings structure and plenty of nuances to his performance. I do prefer Patrik's vocals over Aleena, but she does have a nice range and when they are both singing at full blast it is quite something.

This rarely sounds like a modern progressive rock album, and is quite firmly in the Seventies with some Eighties influences, but given that this band has been around for so long I have no issue with that, and who can resist a Mellotron anyway? A very strong album with much contained within for any proghead.