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Kaipa - Vittjar CD (album) cover

VITTJAR

Kaipa

Symphonic Prog

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robbob
5 stars Absolute superb album

And Kaipa this oldest prog swedish band...monsters of symphonic prog...did it again.

A Monster album..

So solid,so well arranged,composed... beautiful songs and interpretations.

With a little heavier sound ..with important guitar action ...this album is as good as Notes From The Past ..In The Wake...or Keyholder...(the latest era).

Not only the long songs are remarkable(and mostly) the full album ...a masterpiece.

A sound between last Flower Kings and White Willow their Swedish partners in prog rock.

So finally this band must be installed as one of the best Swedish prog rock bands...(and of Europe).

In my opinion 5 well deserved stars.

So congratulations for Kaipa ...and I Hope next works so good as this one.

Report this review (#811766)
Posted Tuesday, August 28, 2012 | Review Permalink
Richens
5 stars This is an immensely good album. I only really got switched on to Kaipa when I heard their previous album 'In the Wake of Evolution'. I thought ITWOE was a great album and 'Vittjar' continues where ITWOE left off.

Vittjar is slightly heavier and more raucous than ITWOE, but it all works so beautifully. From the combined vocals of Lundstrom and Gibson to the brilliant guitar work of Nilsson, it all comes together to create a powerhouse of sound. It is insanely melodic, brilliantly infectious in its depth and possibly my favourite release of 2012.

All the tracks are superb, but at this time, my personal favourites are 'Lightblue and Green' and 'A Universe of Tinyness'. It's a great album. Go and buy it!

Report this review (#818175)
Posted Monday, September 10, 2012 | Review Permalink
DrömmarenAdrian
2 stars I was surprised only two persons had written revires of this album when so many had listened to it. Vittjar is their eleventh studio record and was released last year 2012. It contained a lot to like but unfortunately a lot to dislike too. With a nice cover and the definition symphonic I should be enlightened but after listening, I am not.

Like I use to do I will begin with what is good. We can clearly hear the musicians do a good job. They are coherent and some instruments are really nice like the guitar, the bass, the keyboards but especially Elin Rubinsztein's violin which saves this record from disaster. There is allways something good in these compositions and I shillyshally between like and dislike. I like the folk music influences, especially shown by the violin which are wonderful. They could have done much better music with those folk influences. The best track is "Vittjar". That is a short song, sung in Swedish and unlike every other track the vocals don't seem false. That song is recommended. The instrumentals "First distraction" and "Second distractions" are also good and I think the long song "Our silent ballroom band" is good. Here the vocals fit and even if the song is too protracted, it works without being too boring.

Though, mainly the songs are too long, unnecessary long. Dispite long symphonic intentions I find this music not challanging and not progressive. The feeling of this music being stuck in the studio is also too big for me. For me it's not authentic. There are prog rock I don't like but I still can see its authenticity. The worst things with modern Kaipa's music are the vocals. They are mostly terrible. I am sorry but I find them unsavory. It's hard to point out what's so bad but that's my opinion. Without vocals this could have been a solid three star rating or even four, but now I have to say two. Mind skillfull musicians, sometimes nice folky intentions and good intentions over all. But the result together with the vocals doesn't match the intentions.

People! Three reviews on the album isn't enough. Review and show what you think. Am I alone in my disapproval?

Best track: "Vittjar" 8/10 ? The only song in Swedish

Report this review (#978530)
Posted Saturday, June 15, 2013 | Review Permalink
FemmeMetalWebzine
5 stars The Swedish folk/progressive rock has been with us since 1975. Actually Kaipa is a band with a pretty eclectic pallet and is hard to pin down to one category, although their progressive-ness is undeniable, there is also something very retro about Kaipa and their new album "Vittjar", it certainly has a 70's feel to it, but updated for 2012 of course.

"Vittjar" is Kaipa's 12th album and features 8-songs and well over an hour's worth of music. For the most part the songs are long progressive numbers with a few exceptions. The opening 3-minute instrumental "First Distraction" gives way to the 12-minute "Lightblue and Green". This is a pretty cool song that has a bit of a Queen feel to it and vocalist Patrik Lundstrom reminds me a bit of Freddy Mercury at times. There is a lot going on in this song, and even though it is rather lengthy, it doesn't seem like it is long at all. Up next is the epic of all epics, at 22-minutes long "Our Silent Ballroom Band" is by far the longest song on the album. "Our Ballroom Band" opens acoustically and accompanied by a flute as the sweet vocals of Aleena Gibson join in. Vocalist Patrik Lundstrom then comes in and pretty much takes over the song for awhile before Aleena returns and the two pretty much trade off vocals throughout much of this mammoth song. Some other highlights include "Vittjar" "A Universe of Tinyness" and "Treasure-House" which features Queen like vocal harmonies and turns into one of the best songs on "Vittjar".

With "Vittjar", Kaipa continues to think outside the prog box. It is unbelievable that all of these years later Kaipa has remained relevant (if not more so) in the progressive rock genre ? "Vittjar" is confirmation of that fact.

Review by Tony Cannella

Report this review (#1060415)
Posted Tuesday, October 15, 2013 | Review Permalink

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