“Fyr” is not an album that I can say that its sonancy is totally in the box. I am afraid it is not, and that is exactly the thing that calls the attention. First of all, vocalist Emma Näslund’s voice addresses a lot to Alanis Morissette, which, to me, is a great thing. The Doom Metal inspired instrumentals wrap her voice pretty well, I must say. I say Doom Metal inspired because Gaupa’s music isn’t exactly Doom, but with other influences from Metal music and non-Metal music world. This EP explores a lot of sonancies that I cannot say are common within the world of Metal music. “Fyr” explores an esoteric side of Metal music by adding some elements of Folk Metal and some ethereal effects given by some psychedelic elements. The way I see it, the album has many more esotheric and psychedelic elements than Doom.
“Fyr” commences with “Lion’s Thorn,” a track that explores the hallucinotic elements of bagpipes creating a mesmerizing atmosphere that captures the fan. Vocalist Emma Näslund’s voice helps a lot in creating this atmosphere. The girl really gets the spirit. There are a lot Rainbow’s “Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow” elements here. By the way, from where I am standing, Gaupa’s music explores a lot Rainbow’s grandness and esotheric verves. Interestingly, “Elastic Sleep” promotes a mix of the aforementioned spirit with some moderns elements as the pounding guitars taken from bands as Rage Against the Machine. I have to say that the effect of the combination of the non-melodic pounding of the rhythm guitars with the melodic licks is pretty nice. At least it is something different to work with. To some extent, there is an intent to fuse some 1970’s elements that maybe come from Psychedelic Rock bands like Jefferson Airplane. It is them that give the album’s hallucinotic and mesmerizing atmosphere. The grande finale is with the long and widing “Sömnen / Febersvan” with more than eleven minutes of an epic trip throught the unknown. For a couple of minutes it is only Emma Näslund’s voice with a guitar strumming in the background. When the guitars come for real the mood turns into a The Doors “The End” era intent. “Sömnen / Febersvan” is the absolute trip. Here the girl let free her Janis Joplin spirit. Magnificent.
My dear child of the night will find an interesting mood with “Fyr” and its introspective music. There is much more of the 1970s than from the modern features of Metal music. The fans that are into some Psychedelic stuff will hava a spoonful with the album.
Gaupa “Fyr” will be released on July 4th via Magnetic Eye Records.
Track Listing:
- Lion’s Thorn
- Heavy Lord
- Ten of Twelve
- Elastic Sleep
- Sömnen / Febersvan (Live at Monkey Moon Studios, 2023)
Watch “Ten of Twelve” official music video here:
I’m just a lucky guy who has chosen metal to live with for a long time. Metal changed my life for good. It made me more confident and stronger. Metalheads are naturally far away from the mass mediocrity and don’t accept impostures from anybody else. Metal is more than music, it’s a life changing oportunity!