Gaupa burst onto their native Sweden scene with their self-titled EP in 2018, and quickly built up a fine reputation and steady following in their home country. They released their full-length debut album Feberdrom in 2020 which caught the attention of Nuclear Blast Records, who added them to their roster of Swedish bands. But Gaupa certainly doesn’t fall into the typical “Metal” category that you might expect when looking at their label mates. In fact their roots sit firmly in the stoner rock genre, but on Myriad, their second LP and debut for their new label, they far exceed being pigeonholed into just one sound and have created a record befitting of its title, with a plethora of intriguing styles to be found within.
And it is the enchanting vocals of singer Emma Naslund that make Gaupa difficult to categorise as much as anything else. The record kicks off with ‘Exoskeleton’ and an intro with a typically stoner style muddy down tuned riff, but when the vocals hit they take the track into a totally unique direction. I’m definitely not the first reviewer to compare her sound to that of Bjork, and the influence of the quirky Icelandic singer is all over the vocals on Myriad … and it works! There are also hints of Cerys Matthews from the indie-rock band Catatonia in her tone, and when the pace drops on third track ‘Moloken’ and Gaupa deliver a laid-back Bluesy vibe on the verse, her sultry smoky vocals are not unlike those of Beth Gibbons from Portishead. This is one of the stand out moments on the record too as the distortion pedal and riffing kicks in for the chorus, with the track building to more of a chaotic climax.
‘Elden’ is another song which starts slow and mysterious with lush singing and subtle leads, but gets heavier as it progresses with a wonderfully complex arrangement. ‘Somnen’ which is sung in Swedish, opens with a spaghetti western style acoustic guitar and is soft and mellow throughout, sounding like a hauntingly beautiful hymn. The tone of the record and the musicianship behind Naslund is also impressive with the rhythms of bassist Erik Savstrom and drummer Jimmy Hurtig pulsating and prominent throughout, while the guitar work of Daniel Nygren and David Rosberg is intricate and absorbing, whether they are playing crunching riffs or taking a more stripped back approach.
On ‘Diametrical Enchantress’ they create an old school Hendrix-esq vibe capturing his essence also with the phaser and whammy bar heavy soloing, while the riffs on ‘Ra’ sound like the bastard child of Soundgarden and Led Zeppelin. The classic seventies rock influence continues on ‘My Sister Is A Very Angry Man’, and Gaupa then add a distinct psychedelic influence to album closer ‘Mammon’, which builds slowly with a thoroughly spacey feel helped by the phaser used on the stuttering guitar leads that sit behind and perfectly compliment the vox.
In a nutshell, Myriad is a record bursting full of catchy and hypnotic songs, and at only eight tracks does not out stay its welcome in any way with great variation throughout, which makes listening in one sitting an absolute pleasure. One of my favourite rock albums of the year for sure!
Buy the album here: https://gaupa.bfan.link/ra.yde
9 / 10
ABSTRAKT_SOUL_