SATTYG

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.