Nuclear Blast Records surprised
me when they signed this retro-rock band
from Iceland, because this isn't their
kind of music really...., but I
understand after my first spin why they
couldn't resist to sign this amazing
trio up...!
The history of The Vintage
Caravan is quite interesting. The band
was formed back in 2006 by two talented
12 year old boys and with inspiration
from their parents records they started
to make their own music. Three years
later their debut album was written and
recorded, but it wasn't released until
2011. 'Voyage' was originally released
by Iceland's biggest record company, but
didn't reach outside of the Icelandic
boarders. In mid 2013 Nuclear Blast
Records had a chance to hear this
stunning album and made a quick deal
with them.
Enough about the history and
back to the nine tracks, which are
served on this delicate disc. Giant
doses of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin,
Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple,
Mountain, Foghat are the table of
contents on 'Voyage', and with a
vocalist, who sings quite similar to
Chris Cornell, makes this a band that
absolutely must attract all fans of true
70s hard rock. The young trio is still
teenagers, but rocks the pants off most
of the other bands in this genre.
Their psychedelic rock track
'Winterland' is one of the most
thrilling rock songs I've heard in a
long time. Fans of early Rush must love
this little retro-rock gem. The album
kicks off with two bluesy rock songs
'Craving' and 'Let Me Be' and it's
swings as hell. I have to cheer the
front man Óskar not only for the
insane vocal performance, he is also
a great guitarist. The guitar solo
on 'Let Me Be' and also
on 'M.A.R.S.W.A.T.T'
is just magnificent. The mature and
slow Led Zeppelin song 'Do You
Remember' is a rare and nice love
song. 'Expand Your Mind' is maybe
the strongest and the most cocky
track on the entire album. A given
hit track! The video is available on
Youtube and is just awesome.
'Cocaine
Sally' is a full-pumped 70s blues
rock tune with strong drumming from
Guđjón.
In the heavy rock track 'Midnight
Meditation' I do hear a lot of Black
Sabbath's grooviness and the bass work
is freaking me out in this song. Just
another killing "throwback" hard rock
song. I think to myself.... these guys
are younger than my own sons and they
play old school rock that shakes my
ground!!? How is this possible?
In the closing track: 'The Kings
Voyage' they give us a twelve minutes
long psychedelic space journey with
strong Black Sabbath/Hawkwind
influences. 'Voyage' is an album that
stands out alone and it will be a tough
match for any other band in this
retro-rock genre to make anything
heavier than this in 2014...
The future is looking really
good for this very talented Icelandic
trio. Put 'The Vintage Caravan' on your
check-out list, if you like the classic
hard rock sound...
Gangi ţér vel og ég óska ykkur
öllum velgengni í starfsframa ţinn! Vona
ađ ég hitti ţig í Skandinavíu!
Lineup:
Óskar Logi (Óskar Logi Ágústsson) -
vocals, guitar
Alex Örn (Alexander Örn Númason) - bass
Guđjón Reynisson - drums
