CD Review: Angling Feelings

KAIPA
Angling Feelings
(Inside Out Music)

Relatively unknown in the states, even by fanatical prog-fan standards, and criminally unheralded by any critical benchmark, Sweden's Kaipa has nevertheless been a Scandinavian musical institution for almost three-and-a-half decades. Formed in 1973 by guitarist and songwriter Hans Lundin, Kaipa provided a teenaged Roine Stolt with his first major band experience before forming prog-rock legends the Flower Kings during the '80s. The '70s-era Kaipa recorded a handful of albums for Decca that sold well for their time, and the band's musical stock would continue to grow beyond its ostensible demise in 1982, subsequently influencing a generation of European musicians.

After an eighteen-year hiatus during which Lundin continued to make music and Stolt achieved a measure of fame and acclaim at the helm of the Flower Kings, Kaipa reformed in the year 2000. The band would find an entirely different prog-rock landscape in the new millennium. Although remaining a relatively small cult genre within the immense world of rock & roll, prog-rock's status and reputation had grown during the '90s, especially in Europe, and its influence could be felt in both mainstream rock and heavily in altering the direction of contemporary heavy metal. No longer overshadowed by hardcore punk, "nerf metal" and grunge, "prog" has enjoyed over a decade of increased sales and growing audiences that thirst for a transcendental musical experience.

Since its reformation in 2000, Kaipa has released three studio albums, but it is with its ninth and most recent, Angling Feelings, that the band has cemented its place among the greats of progressive rock. First of all, Roine Stolt's fingerprints are nowhere to be found hereabouts. Leaving the band to pursue his other numerous musical projects (including the wonderful solo album Wall Street Voodoo and various Flower Kings' releases); Stolt is no longer a creative part of Kaipa. In many ways, this is a good thing - regardless of Stolt's immense talents, his departure allows Kaipa to cast aside his shadow and pursue new musical directions.