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Kaipa: Urskog
Kaipa - Urskog Album Art

Kaipa: Urskog

Melodic Progressive Rock
5.0/5.0

Label Facebook
InsideOut Music
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 27.04.2022 | Released: 29.04.2022

2022 has been an eventful year for the world of melodic progressive rock music. Already we've had several fantastic albums presented to us: Jonas Lindberg & The Other Side: Miles From Nowhere, The Flower Kings: By Royal Decree, and Pattern-Seeking Animals: Just Passing Through. And these are just the albums that have crossed my desk since the year began. All have received favorable reviews from Dangerdog Reviews. All could be on the short list for albums of the year, especially in their field.

Kaipa Click For Larger Image

Kaipa

Now, you can add Kaipa's latest and fourteenth studio album, Urskog. We haven't heard from the band since 2017 and the pre-pandemic Children Of The Sounds. The new album title Urskog translates to primeval forest and defines the musical themes. As usual the music was written by founder and keyboard player Hans Lundin which were inspired by his biking treks through Sweden's forests. But also, at the same time, Lundin was revisiting old solo material for a box set collection. The new album also features a new drummer, Darby Todd who has worked with Devin Townsend, The Darkness, Gary Moore, Martin Barre, among others.

Urskog, then, is classic Kaipa music. Melodic progressive rock informed by the neo-classical prog of a generation ago. Led by Lundin's expressive keyboard play, Kaipa infuses creative guitar lines, strong rock beat and groove from a potent rhythm (wherein the bass lines are strong and delightful, and melodic, nearly soothing, vocals. With these things, the musical skill and talent of the players is quite self-evident. These elements are, in turn, enveloped in songs with playful, mildly technical, arrangements shaped by significant melody and harmony, notably in how the the vocal arrangements carry both. Of the songs, most are vibrant, lively, and imbued with a modicum of twists and turns in tempo and changes. The track with some difference, though slight, might be the title track. Urskog seems to focus less on vocals, but more upon instrumentation, especially Lundin's keyboards (he is the main composer, after all). All said, for classic melodic and progressive rock, Kaipa remains one of the best players in the genre. Urskog is another accomplished and entertaining album of the same. Easily recommended.




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The Take Away

For classic melodic and progressive rock, Kaipa remains one of the best players in the genre. Urskog is another accomplished and entertaining album of the same. Easily recommended.

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