VITTJAR

Kaipa, a name that resonates through the history of progressive rock, returns with the album Vittjar. This album is a journey through time and space, where the band skillfully weaves together folk music and symphonic rock. Kaipa plays progressive rock with significant elements of folk music, fusion, and jazz rock. The group continues in its new style, and the album is reminiscent of their previous works since 2003 when the new era of the band began. The group has many positive moments and can create truly great music, reaching high peaks and beautiful melodies.

Vittjar opens with "First Distraction," a folk-inspired march that sets the tone for the rest of the album. "Lightblue and Green" features powerful drums and guitar riffs that somewhat resemble a modern version of Yes. The album's longest track, "Our Silent Ballroom Band," spans over 22 minutes and is a journey in itself. Aleena Gibson's vocals shine brightly, contributing to a cohesive and engaging narrative. The production is crystal clear, making each instrument stand out. Hans Lundin's keyboards and Per Nilsson's guitar work are particularly prominent, while Morgan Ågren's drums and Jonas Reingold's bass create a solid foundation.

I feel this album is somewhat of an intermediate effort; it has many good aspects but also some elements that detract from the overall impression. Without sounding too negative, there are a few things that prevent the album from truly taking off for me. Primarily, the album is too long, clocking in at over 68 minutes, and would have benefited from being trimmed by at least 15 minutes. In fact, all the tracks could be cut by about 25%. Even fairly good songs lose quality when they are stretched out too long. This ties into my difficulty in feeling that the songs have a clear thread, and they are hard to distinguish from each other due to many fillers and interludes that resemble each other, causing the individual character of the songs to disappear and blend together. While I'm on this note, I also find the jazzy outbursts somewhat disruptive at times. Additionally, the vocals can be a bit too shouty and overblown, sometimes even quite weak, to be honest. This is strange because both singers are fundamentally very good and often sing very well, but here it feels like the music demands that they push themselves too hard, making it sound strained.

Vittjar demonstrates Kaipa's ability to stay true to their roots while remaining modern. They are a group that demands and deserves attention, usually rewarding the listener with a rich musical experience. However, I feel this is clearly an intermediate album that doesn't quite maintain the same high quality as their previous works. It actually holds a very high quality that somewhat gets lost in the long playtime.

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