Artist: THE VINTAGE CARAVAN
Album: ARRIVAL (CD)

Year: 2015
EAN/UPS: 727361349400
Media type: CD

THE VINTAGE CARAVAN are a mystery. »Arrival«, the third full-length from this Icelandic trio implies a maturity worthy of any band that has been on the road for some decades and enjoyed their share of smoked-filled seedy backstage rooms reeking of stale beer. A relaxed rocker like ‘Winter Queen’, with its perfectly-timed build-up and meticulous solos speaks of a long-experienced songwriter worth his salt. The blues-soaked ‘Monolith’ is as cleverly assembled as the percussion-driven heavyweight ‘Last Day Of Light’ or the shapeshifting semi-ballad, half-groove monster ‘Eclipsed’, or the whirling psychedelic trip offered by ‘Babylon’. The hand of a masterful composer can clearly be seen at work in each and every of the diverse songs featured on »Arrival« combined with a rare musicality on the instrumental and vocal side that can easily match those rock giants of the 70's. Yet that hand belongs to a kid or rather kids barely out of their teens.
 
Veteran music journalists are a cynical breed and particularly hard to impress after literally thousands of albums heard and hundreds of shows attended. It’s even more when an unknown band literally makes their jaws drop. Especially when this happens on the edge of the world or to be more precise at the Eistnaflug Festival in Iceland. When THE VINTAGE CARAVAN climbed on the stage at the 2013 edition of the festival, the trio was only allowed to enter the venue accompanied by their parents. The attending journalists were therefore not prepared to the following spectacle. Ginger-haired frontman Óskar Logi Ágústsson unleashed one impressive guitar solo after the other onto the exploding crowd. Alexander Örn Númason pumped crushing grooves out his instrument until his fingers bled. And drummer Guðjón Reynisson aka Golden God – as the female festival crew dubbed the youngster – hammered a more than solid foundation into the audience.
 
The level of blind understanding displayed by THE VINTAGE CARAVAN on that stage was hard to believe at their age. Besides the obviously extraordinary talent of each protagonist the trio's history sheds some light on this riddle. The band was already formed in late 2005, when Óskar Logi was just eleven years old. Guðjón joined in 2006 and three years later their band became very active in the Icelandic live scene. In May 2012 their current line-up was completed, when the only slightly older Alexander joined the group on bass. After their triumph at Eistnaflug and heavily impressing more foreign journalists at a celebrated performance at the aftershow of the local Wacken Metal Battle, THE VINTAGE CARAVAN became a serious buzz outside of Iceland. The prestigious Roadburn Festival booked the band for third 2014 edition solely on account of the strength a live clip created by national Icelandic television and their second album »Voyage«, which was officially released at home in 2012 following their self-released debut »The Vintage Caravan« (2011).
 
Germany’s giant Wacken Open Air was soon to follow and meanwhile leading metal label Nuclear Blast had discovered the young talents and struck a deal. Nuclear Blast released »Voyage« worldwide with a new cover and THE VINTAGE CARAVAN relocated to Denmark as live demand grew high too fast to be covered from the North Atlantic. Touring with GRAND MAGUS and BLUES PILLS as well as performing festivals such as Summerbreeze saw the band around a 100 times on European stages in 2014 with ever-growing audiences delivering standing ovations after each show. In January 2015, THE VINTAGE CARAVAN entered an old ballroom for its special acoustic qualities to record their next full-length »Arrival« in the frost-bitten countryside of Iceland. Exploring new musical territory, the young band has clearly reached a new level both in songwriting and sound. 2015 is going to be the busiest year in the steeply rising career of THE VINTAGE CARAVAN. Time to get rocking with »Arrival«!

TRACKLIST:

01. Last Day Of Light
02. Monolith
03. Babylon
04. Eclipsed
05. Shaken Beliefs
06. Crazy Horses
07. Sandwalker
08. Innerverse
09. Carousel
10. Winter Queen

Bonus:
11. Say Hello
12. Five Months

LINE-UP:

Óskar Logi | Guitar/vocals
Guðjón Reynisson | Drums
Alex Örn | Bass