SOMMARGRYNINGSLJUS

Since the 70s, Kaipa has been delighting us with the finest sounds of Swedish progressive rock, setting trends in the country and serving as a creative haven for many of the genre's legendary artists. From their iconic debut with a young Roine Stolt on guitar (and, interestingly, painting the cover art), Kaipa has continuously reinvented their sound while maintaining the hallmarks of pastoral, symphonic, and, of course, progressive rock. They achieve a spectacular balance between melodic beauty and virtuosity.

This contrast became even more pronounced with the arrival of guitarist Per Nilsson in 2006, known for his work with Scar Symmetry and Meshuggah. This death metal icon breathed new life into the band with his piercing riffs and incredible, supersonic leads inspired by another Swedish idol, Yngwie Malmsteen. Let's not forget Jonas Reingold's pivotal role, possibly one of the most skilled bassists in modern progressive rock, with contributions to bands like The Flower Kings, The Tangent, and Steve Hackett.

Hans Lundin is the only original member of Kaipa still playing on this album. Once again, he dazzles us with his incredible compositional skills and signature keyboards. Undoubtedly, he is the mastermind behind this magical and ever-burning project.

This album follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, Urskog, and we believe it elevates this style to the next level, showcasing the band's best at an outstanding level of excellence. Folk melodies paint sunsets and mornings with violins, flutes, Hammonds, and Mellotrons, all alongside the boldness of a jazzy, hypnotic rhythm section, unbeatable bass runs, and well-crafted atmospheres with brilliant pads and multiple harmonic layers.

The guitar has its moments of prominence and accompaniment, being a fundamental pillar for structuring the songs (mostly long epics) in both modes, layering syncopated rhythms and creating discomfort and beauty simultaneously. The solos are spectacular, incredibly fast yet with enough melodic insight, sometimes touching a style akin to Guthrie Govan or Allan Holdsworth. In each of these long compositions, there's a guitar moment that often serves as the climax of the piece, showcasing unparalleled virtuosity.

Kaipa captures the full spectrum of nature's colors, offering melancholic introspective moments where tensions synergize indefinitely, as well as beautiful sunrise sections with barbershop-worthy vocal harmonies, enhanced by the combined energy of the two melodic singers, Aleena Gibson and Patrik Lundström. Each track on the album feels like an ineffable story, an experience worth exploring.

"Sommarskymningsljus" (Summer Twilight Light) opens the album with a captivating title that conjures a melody of the same nature, setting the emotional tone for this sensational journey.

"Seven Birds" brings forth everything we love about retro-prog: spectacular Mellotron melodies, vocal harmonies, and catchy hooks. Darkness lurks within the beauty and light of many passages, appearing in bold notes that enrich the melodies. Both vocalists weave their magic into a majestic harmonic display alongside the thunderous guitar that carves solos into every corner of this piece.

"Like Thousand Dawns" presents itself with an incredible introduction featuring irregular time signatures, a lead guitar, and rhythmic juggling. This track, sung in English unlike the first and last songs on the album, has captivating vocal passages narrated by Aleena's voice, sparking pure imagination that soars with the keyboards and dynamic shifts. This song includes some of the album's most ethereal passages and a spectacular use of vocal harmonies to create transcendent sections. The sweep picking intensifies towards the end, altering the chorus structure and concluding with an impressive prog display.

"Revelationview" is the second single from the album, already available for listening, and the reasons for its selection are evident. The emotional intensity of the voices and the otherworldly melodies show a different, darker, and more melancholic side of Kaipa that transforms under the subtle rays of late light. After two minutes, a spectacular violin theme emerges, reappearing until it dominates the orchestra of our minds, accompanied by the constant beat of Jonas Reingold's bass.

In the final section, a flute joins the violin's main theme, creating one of the most emotional endings of the album. Harmonic fireworks erupt at unexpected moments, and a pagan dance superbly closes the curtain after a simply inexplicable guitar solo.

Soft organ and pure jazz: these unrepentant chords start "Chased by Wolves and Burned by the Sun," pure summer brilliance with chaotic roots unfolding over ten minutes of pastoral melodies in the style of YES. The song's transformations lead to Per Nilsson's syncopated guitar dominating the verses in a tense conversation with Patrik. Repetition and hypnosis return to jazz and the keyboard/guitar solos, now clearly reminiscent of Allan Holdsworth.

Perhaps the elephant in the room, "Spiderweb Train": an impressive, bizarre, and pompous story in the purest style of The Flower Kings. Fifteen minutes of a song that can be interpreted as a critique of authoritarianism or mob mentality. It unfolds slowly between keyboard and bass solos, reviving the Reingold/Bodin duo from TFK. It is constantly interwoven with the darkness of its thrilling chorus, which simultaneously infects the rest of the instruments, interpreting this motif in each solo. The drum fills are striking, as are the dynamic changes, where we find marches, scherzos, circus rhythms, and slow rides, allowing each instrument to shine as it should.

In several sections, the song seems to lose its way and then find it again, which has a strong emotional impact on the listener. In other words, there are moments when you don't know where to focus, too many solos and majesty that require repeated listens and patience to process. What leaves me speechless are the last five minutes; I have no idea how they programmed the metronome, learned the solos, hit those notes, played so fast, etc. An overdose of prog with a chorus that sounds like a jingle for a malevolent dictator, nothing can go wrong.

"Like Thousand Dawns" stands out for its moving and 80s atmosphere, with open, reverberated drums and constant pads in exchange; something in Patrik's vocal inflections reminds me of Queen at times. The intricate guitar solos sprinkle this song from top to bottom, always satisfying the melodic standards of the work. It's a more neo-prog approach to Kaipa's sound, and I think this extra solemnity suits them excellently.

To close the album, we find the melody that introduced us to this natural journey, "Sommargryningsljus" (Summer Dawn Light). Together with its brother track, it conjures the emotions of the sun in an emotional chant with weeping guitars and Aleena Gibson, who, like a fairy, traps us in an eternal nuclear fusion.

On June 28th, we are treated to a record full of folk beauty; eighty minutes of an impressionistic landscape waiting to be experienced. Lakes, mountains, volcanoes, and lush greenery in an organic composition of progressive sounds for any listener, any time of day, any feeling? Kaipa at its finest.

Originally written for: Nacion Progresiva.

Veteran Swedish Prog band Kaipa has a long history (origins of the band go back nearly 50 yrs). The current version of the band is led by the twin virtuosos of Hans Lundin (keyboards) and Per Nilsson (guitars), and rounded out by Jonas Reingold (Flower Kings, Steve Hackett) on bass, Darby Todd (devin Townsend, Martin Barre) on drums, and vocalists Patrik Lundstrom and Aleena Gibson. This is classic symphonic prog with jazz elements, filled with grand themes and melodies, and abundant instrumental flourishes. The album consists primarily of 6 extended length songs (9-15 minutes each, providing ample space for the band to stretch out and explore the varied musical themes and sections of the songs. These are book-ended by shorter opening and closing theme tracks. In addition to the instrumental virtuosity on display, the male and female vocalists (mostly sung in English, but with some Swedish in the title tracks) add another lovely element, both individually and with fine vocal harmonies throughout. This is excellent symphonic prog that raises the bar for Kaipa as I would say it is the best of any of their more recent albums. Best Tracks: Relationview, Seven Birds, Chased By Wolves and Burned by the Sun, Spiderweb train, Sommargrningsljus. Rating: 4

I love the Kaipa band very much. They have a rich discography full of wonderful music. I started listening to them around 2005, albums from 2002 until today. Every album I discovered from these Swedes was something new for me and I listened to them again and again with joy. Unfortunately, I could not accept this new album as something that would take me to new worlds of their fantasies. Well, I think I listened to the new album at least a dozen times, sometimes very carefully, sometimes casually. Obviously I had high expectations and thought I was going to hear something new, something that almost every prog rock fan would be looking for. The new album Sommargryningsljus is just an average Kaipa album. Completely copy paste arrangements of music and singing from previous albums. Here and there parts of the songs have some new elements that I liked, but they are only elements of a few minutes each. In terms of production, they have gone further, mixing and mastering is phenomenal and it is a real pleasure to listen to that side of their music. I even experimented listening to the album on a 2.0 audio system and on a 9.1 system. On that side, everything is beautiful tonally, but only that and nothing more. 2/5 is my final rating. Album for collectors.

When Roine Stolt seemed to appear from nowhere with 'The Flower King' in 1994, I am sure I was not the only proghead who wondered who Kaipa were, the band he had been involved with in the Seventies and was determined to discover more. I was soon playing their 1975 debut, but never thought the band would exist again, and given the success of his projects I was somewhat surprised to see Kaipa resurrect 20 years after their initial breakup with 'Notes From The Past' with Roine Stolt and Hans Lundin now forming a revised band with Patrik Lundström, Jonas Reingold and Morgan Ågren along with various guests, including Aleena Gibson. Fast forward another 20+ years and Kaipa are back with their tenth album since the resurrection. Over that time the line-up has stayed remarkably stable, and although Roine has not been involved for some time, the line-up is now very similar to that from 2002 with Hans Lundin (keyboards, vocals), Patrik Lundström (vocals), Aleena Gibson (vocals), Jonas Reingold (bass), Per Nilsson (electric & acoustic guitars) and Darby Todd (drums). Both guests who appeared on the last album 'Urskog', Elin Rubinsztein (violin) and Olof Åslund (saxophone) are back again plus Fredrik Lindqvist (recorders & whistles).

Incredibly, it is now 60 years since Hans Lundin's musical career started when he became a member of his first band as organist and singer, before forming Kaipa in 1973. 'Sommargryningsljus' (Summer Dawn Light) is the band's fifteenth album and contains eight tracks portraying a nocturnal journey from dusk until dawn, with the first two tracks representing the twilight and the closing two indicating dawn. This nighttime odyssey can be seen as a metaphor for the state between death and rebirth, or as an allegory of life told in reverse. As with 'Urskog', Hans has been revisiting songs he wrote years ago for inspiration, with the basic structures of both "Seven Birds" and "Spiderweb Train" initially written when he was working material which would end up on 'Notes From The Past', which caused him also to revisit some synths and sounds he had not utilised in some time.

Given the history of the band it is not surprising to find some similarities with The Flower Kings, which is a bit like finding similarities between Kansas and Proto Kaw, as there is an intertwined history both in personnel and influences. This is classic symphonic prog, but given the band were originally active in its heyday that is only to be expected, and that it is mostly keyboard driven with the rest of the guys bringing their elements to the arrangement to keep them as the central focus is also no shock. The use of different vocalists allows the band to widen the harmonies and palette of sounds at their disposal, while it is also intriguing to have songs both in English and Swedish. There is a real depth here, with music which feels as if it has been deeply thought through and constructed with care and passion, just like the old days, resulting in something which can be played multiple times and explored, with new discoveries each time. Kaipa continue to produce wonderful old school progressive rock and even if it is somewhat regressive in many ways, this old proghead finds much in here to enjoy.