Voyage

Album review

Icelandic power trio the Vintage Caravan hop across various genres on second full-length Voyage, but their sound stays rooted in some form of classic '60s or '70s heavy music throughout the ten tracks that make up this powerful statement of heavy metal revivalism. The album starts with the road warrior push of the high-speed blues-metal riff-fest "Craving," tapping into the more ham-fisted blues jam side of Black Sabbath's early days, but with more speed and proggy precision. Sabbath's influence is paramount for the Vintage Caravan, but they also lean on Southern-tinged metal, soft psychedelic balladry, and stoned jamming. "Do You Remember," with its acoustic core, Beatlesque chiming guitars, and even a lyric that references listening to Simon & Garfunkel, steers clear of the heaviness for a time, but manages to inject some moments of raw riffing amid its introspective clean soloing and remorseful tones of lost love. A few songs later, "Cocaine Sally" is a burning boogie rock workout, followed by the brooding plod of "Winterland," the almost thrashy "Midnight Meditation," and then the epic psychedelic suite of "The King's Voyage," which runs through doomy riffs, fantastical imagery, and theatrical cries of victory in the course of its over the top 12 minutes. While the Vintage Caravan don't turn in a completely consistent statement, they never bore, either, as they leap from fascination with one facet of hard rock to the next. A more deliberate focus might not even benefit them, as they seem to work best when trying out different styles rather than turning in different variations of the same. With all their variants of expression, the Vintage Caravan manage to keep a cohesive voice and turn in incredibly tight performances, even in their most druggy and mesmerized moments.
© Fred Thomas /TiVo