Release Date: September 26th 2025. Record Label: Napalm Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl
Portals - Tracklisting
1. Philosopher
2. Portal I
3. Days Go By
4. Portal II
5. Here You Come Again
6. Current
7. Give And Take
8. Portal III
9. Crossroads
10. Alone
11. Portal IV
12. Freedom
13. Riot
14. Electrified
15. Portal V
16. My Aurora
17. This Road
Member
Oskar Logi Agustsson - electric guitars, vocals, acoustic guitars, flute
Alexander Örn Numason - bass guitar, backing vocals, synth, farfisa
Stefan Ari Stefansson - drums, backing vocals, percussion
Guests:
Mikael Åkerfeldt - vocals 'Philosopher'
Eybor Ingi Gunnlaugsson - vocals 'Crossroads'
Tomas Jonsson - hammond organ 'Days Go By', 'Portal II', 'Give And Take' and 'Alone'.
Valdis Eiriksdottir - backing vocals 'Riot', 'Give And Take' and 'Alone'.
Review
Everything has it's time and place and everything happens for a reason as is the case of The Vintage Caravan. This Icelandic trio has been around for a while now and have kept busy in the process but for yours truly they have moved in my periphery and have been elusive. That is until their new album 'Portals' came out at the tail-end of September. From the moment 'Portals' emanated from the speakers for the first time The Vintage Caravan had me hook, line and sinker.
There are 5 shorter compositions, all under a minute each, called 'Portals I-V' spread throughout the album acting like chapters, if you like. Don't know if I'm reading too much into it but I feel that The Vintage Caravan tells of journey through life especially regarding the different stages of a relationship.
It all begins with opener 'Philosopher' to initialize this story and it's a brilliant full-on expansive ode to 70's heavy rock with noneother than Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt on vocals. The first portal brings on 'Days Gone By' which rocks even harder than it's predecessor. A wonderfully great song. The second portal features 'Here You Come Again', Current' and 'Give And Take' and moves mainly between excellent heavy rock, electric folk and electric blues.
The vocal harmonies are captivating as are the progressive touches. A new relationship is blooming and the two protagonists are feeling each other out until they decide to give it their all. In the third portal time has moved forward and our couple have reached a point of decision making, continue or step out and move on? 'Crossroads' and 'Alone'bring trippy elements along with contemplative and reflective influx which highlighted by that wonderful vocal harmonizing and sharp hook-laden riffs.
'Portal III' sees the band not holding back through the songs 'Freedom', 'Riot' and 'Electrified'. The tempos do shift somewhat although the ferocity doesn't. The Vintage Caravan are absolutely phenomenal in this section where our protagonists are going through a very rough spell. The last ”chapter” 'Portal V' begins with the wonderfully acoustic-driven 'My Aurora'. An ode from one of the protagonists to the other about the great times they had but no longer do. 'This Road' is shockful of modernized 70's heavy rock and the perfect way to end this excellent album. Going their separate ways a new journey lies ahead of the couple.
Like I mentioned above I might have read too much into 'Portals' but the compositions speak to me this way. Regardless, The Vintage Caravan show their true class and brilliance with this fantastic recording. And I urge you all to check this band and their music out. You won't be disappointed, on the contrary!
Words by Håkan Nyman
Links
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