VIDEO PREMIERE: "On The Run" Acoustic Version By The Vintage Caravan

Hailing from Álftanes, Iceland The Vintage Caravan, this trio of immensely talented musicians are set to hit the road again, instruments in tune, in hand and ready to astound with their new record “Gateways”, officially released today Friday 31^st August 2018 via Nuclear Blast

This delightful trio appeal to every part of THE SLUDGELORD’S blackened heart, their bluesy classic rock, their psychedelic leanings, their prog and doom twists and slants, all of it works harmoniously with a heavy enough sound that even the most diehard  metal heads can rejoice. Today to celebrate the release of “Gateways”, you can check out an exclusive acoustic version of album track “On The Run”, which you can check out below.  “Gateways” is available HERE

Band info: facebook

The Sludgelord Exclusive Interview: Marcus Jidell of Avatarium

By: Aaron Pickford

Leif Edling's involvement in any doom project is bound to bring excitement with it, indeed rewind back to 2013 and AVATARIUM was born.  Unleashing their critically lauded debut ‘Avatarium’ to the masses in November of the same year and lauded by this very website as one of the finest doom releases of the year, AVATARIUM are back with their latest doom filled offering, which was released to the masses  last week. Entitled ‘The Girl With The Raven Mask’ Bassist Leif Edling had this to say about the result:

“Think we have created something unique this time with AVATARIUM! The songs are more written to be just songs and there are some really nice moments on the record that I personally love… the straight forward title track, the beautiful ‘January Sea’, the riff in ‘Ghostlight’ and the groove in ‘Run Killer Run’. The organ and the Rhodes piano are ridiculously loud in the mix at times, even Dr. Carl agrees hehe, but i think it gives even more edge to the songs! I hope people will dig »The Girl With The Raven Mask« as much as I do myself, and if they don’t, it’s their problem. A band can’t deliver more than we have done here, so it is an album close to perfection! When an album is perfect…shoot me!“ 

With band set to hit the road for a 12 date European Tour, kicking off on 18 November 2015, AVATARIUM will play their first UK show at The Underworld in Camden on November 22nd, supported by The Vintage Caravan.  Today it gives us great pleasure to present The Sludgelord Exclusive interview, we spoke with guitarist Marcus Jidell about the new album, which you can view below

Tickets for the show at Camden on 22/11/2015 can be purchased here and you can order the album here.  Full details of the European Tour can be view below.

Band info: official | facebook | twitter

The Vintage Caravan - 'Arrival' (Album Review)

Album Type: Full-Length

Date Released: 15/05/2015

Label: Nuclear Blast

‘Arrival’ CD//DD//LP track Listing

1. Last Day of Light

2. Monolith

3. Babylon

4. Eclipsed

5. Shaken Beliefs

6. Crazy Horses

7. Sandwalker

8. Innerverse

9. Carousel

10. Winter Queen

The Vintage Caravan is

Óskar Logi | Guitar/Vocals

Guðjón Reynisson | Drums

Alex Örn | Bass

Review

The Vintage Caravan is a new one for me, only having uncovered them on their third full length release, yet I am impressed from the first notes of ‘Last Day of Light’ to the last riff of ‘Winter Queen’, the album impressive.

Formed in 2006 (they were 12, 12 people!) they practiced their arses off before emerging in 2009 and releasing their first album in 2011, followed by ‘Voyage’ in 2014. With a European tour already under their belt, 2 shows at the Roadburn Festival and their 2 previous albums, the young band have already achieved so much

The thrumming beat introducing ‘Last Day of Light’ is almost animalistic, simple yet sublime with clean presentation reminiscent of tribal drums, it hammers gently requesting permission to enter before the guitar riffs grab a hold of the lugholes and refuse to let go.  With a groovy 70’s twist the vocals kick in smoothly completing the threesome with aplomb.  With a guitar solo a third of the way through that quite frankly leaves me in a pile of drool, the start of the caravan journey is a good one.

‘Monolith’ is second up, full of groove, swagger and heavy chords, it is simply immense.  So easy going, yet interesting and leaving no room for boredom, just piling on the riffs, delivering a constant thrum through the strong drums and Logi’s vocals keeping the intrigue level cranked up until the end. The song writing here, with many of the other songs, is impeccable.

I flow through the album on a delicious, hazed, prog journey; images of flower filled meadows and gnomes hiding behind toadstools, emerging straight from the pages of an Enid Blyton novel. The songs hold strong, fast paced in the middle, slower in the beginning and at the end, each and every one is wrapped seductively around a clean structure with regular tempo changes to ramp up the interest.

‘Crazy Horses’ is a filthy beast; from the start a dirty riff that strikes to the very core, the monotonous drums giving a sludge tinged edge backed by the earthy bass to begin. And then; a ramped up Logi enters, bringing the energy and buzz of a 2 year old on a sugar high with classic rock vocals resplendent in simplicity, yet  exudeelegance that will have you boogying round the kitchen in no time. A stand out track for me and one that is like a fine wine, it gets better with age and as with all good songs, it also gets better the more times you hear it, marking this one for a future classic.

‘Carousel’ is dripping with potential, and easily a contender for the next Bond film there is the underlying acid trip, yes, but mingled with that prog/classic touch they do so well. The bass solo alone is worth a listen as Orn leads us onto a fantastical, aurally complex and ultimately rewarding trek of the senses, leaving one dribbling in the corner and rocking slightly.

‘Winter Queen’ brings the album to an epic 8 minute conclusion, rounding up everything that is fantastic about a band and has made them on to this writers list of firm favourites. A relaxed rocker effort, it is perfectly timed with a creeping build up and meticulous solos that astound the senses and leave an imprint that, happily, nothing will erase.

This trio of immensely talented musicians seem to have sprung fully formed, instruments in tune and ready to astound, from the womb, musicality and talent ooze from their pores and infect their aura. Every single one of them is immensely skilled, the ability to express such emotion is not taught, you either have it or you don’t and they do…in spades.

Bringing to the fore the likes of Paul Gilbert, Eddie Marcolin and Billy Sheehan, not for comparison or similarity, purely for their insane talent and incredible artistry.

This delightful trio appeal to every part of my music loving heart and soul, their bluesy classic rock, their psychedelic leanings, their prog and doom twists and slants, all of it works harmoniously with a heavy enough sound even for the metal head in me to rejoice.

Words by: Kat Hilton

‘Arrival’ is available everywhere now

For more information:

Like: https://www.facebook.com/vintagecaravan

The Sludgelord News: THE VINTAGE CARAVAN - new album details announced

Find the stunning psychedelic cover by renowned American artist David Paul Seymour (www.davidpaulseymour.com) below.

Icelandic classic rock trio THE VINTAGE CARAVAN have announced the details for the band's upcoming album, entitled Arrival, scheduled for a May 18th release via Nuclear Blast.
Pre-Order it here: http://smarturl.it/VCARAVAN-Arrival

Commented the band: "We are so excited for the release of the upcoming album. It's definitely a step forward for us musically and we are incredibly happy with how natural the recording process was and how well all of the songs turned out. Get ready for Arrival!"

The band recorded the follow-up to 2014's critically acclaimed Voyage in an isolated fjord where they set up a studio in an old ballroom and worked with producer Axel "Flexi" Árnason who also worked with the band on their last album.

Commented the band: "The songwriting sessions have been going on since around October 2012 when our album Voyage had been out in Iceland for a month. We immediately started writing at that point so some of the songs are quite old for us. Because of that we have a bit too many songs but we intend to make this album around 10 tracks so we can put what we think are the best tracks on the album.
Right now we are doing demos, polishing the stuff and thinking of ways to nicely add to the production of the songs.
We are very excited to start recording this album. It's going to be interesting to work on. The album is a bit different from our previous album - it's a bit darker, a bit heavier, a bit more melodic but definitely all in a good way."


THE VINTAGE CARAVAN on YouTube:
'Expand Your Mind' official music video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RET5bdAYUuQ






'Midnight Meditation' official lyric video: http://youtu.be/YI58NsV056I





The Vintage Caravan play Desert Fest at The Electric Ballroom in London on Saturday 25th April.

www.facebook.com/vintagecaravan | www.nuclearblast.de/thevintagecaravan

Source: Nuclear Blast UK

Live Review: Black Wolf / The Vintage Caravan / Blues Pills. Manchester Academy 3. 12/11/2014

Entering any venue to hear the glorious tones of Warren Zevon being played is a joy; knowing that you have some of the most exciting young bands around to see as well, just adds to the growing atmosphere at Manchester Academy 3. A mixed clientele of younger rock fans yearning for the seventies and those elder statesman looking for a flash of their glorious heyday's, steadily filled the room as the crowd awaited the arrival of the first band; Black Wolf.

Immediately the tone was set by the band, as the five piece band noodled into their opening number. The band found their stride early doors as they channelled the spirit of some of the best classic rock bands of yesteryear (think Free / Bad Co / Lynyrd Skynyrd). The track was met rapturously and the band continued to plough through a plethora of groove laden traditional rock tracks with excellent energy. During 'Relief' the band worked the crowd very well with pulsing tempos and stellar work on the crowd participation front.

As a warm up act; brilliant!

Again, Manchester was representing themselves well with an almost full room for the first band on a three band bill. It's always good to see and makes the atmosphere that little bit better.

The Vintage Caravan are a band that fellow Sludgelord writer, Phil Weller, had informed me about before. Their spot on the bill was my first foray with the band. For the 45 minutes or so they had been allotted they exuded energy and played the lion share of their 2014 release; ‘Voyage’. Mixing driving rhythms with progressive passages and some superb soloing, the amount of beer glasses being raised as the set progressed, grew and grew. Their energetic and emotive performance was up tempo and blistering as the crowd swelled further, ready for the main act of the night.

Blues Pills took the stage in low key fashion, ripping immediately into ‘High Class Woman’ from their debut album. It’s chugging bass line powered the track into an early extended jam which set the tone for the evening. Such is the prowess of the band; they have the ability to take their already masterful compositions in directions they fancy. The band delivered a large portion of their excellent debut album throughout the set, along with a great cover of Tony Joe White’s ‘Elements & Things’. As well as a great cover version, another highlight of the set included Elin Larsson tearing the roof off the venue with an impassioned and soaring vocal on ‘Devil Man’. Its howling introduction and Sabbath style riff was riotous and joyous in equal measure. The band returned to close out their set with a lengthy version of ‘Black Smoke’; another devilishly good helping from the bands debut album. Guitarist Dorrian Sorriaux showed his astounding ability throughout the evenings set, however ‘Black Smoke’ gave him a platform to show the tender side of his playing, as well as the pure fire he can create.

All three bands on the bill for this tour still have plenty to prove, and will continue to progress. Black Wolf sounded tight and proved to be an astute opening act. Nuclear Blast has two great hopes on their roster in the form of The Vintage Caravan and Blues Pills. It was a privilege to witness all the bands’ performances in the cosy surroundings of Manchester Academy 3.

Words by: Dominic Walsh

Live Review : The Vintage Caravan/Asomvel/Grand Magus, Sound Control, Manchester, UK, 12th March 2014

With fellow Swedes Soilwork playing the same venue on the same night, we are forced down to the depths of the Sound Control basement, but despite the few irritatingly placed pillars, the basement serves as the perfect intimate venue to host a night of heavy metal. 

An early start often means that the first band plays to a mere handful of people, and while there was certainly more than a handful, The Vintage Caravan play to a thin crowd. However, not to be deterred by this, the young pups from Iceland impress with their retro psychedelic grooves. A band I can foresee moving up the ranks in the near future for sure. Next up Asomvel, enticing a glimmer of enthusiasm from the not yet warmed up crowd with straight up, no fucks given metal-punk-rock’n'roll. Projecting his thick Yorkshire accent and boisterous demeanour, lead singer Conan does his utmost to excite the crowd and to some extent succeeds. The music not quite to my taste, bit of a poor mans Motorhead, but all in all perfectly tolerable.

The basement now well and truly packed to the rafters, the crowd eagerly await the trio of heavy metal gods as an energetic buzz circulates. For me Grand Magus 100% epitomizes heavy metal, and it actually befuddles me why they are not a thousand times bigger than they are. Not a weak album in their discography and all around incredible, for me they are one of the best bands around. And they immediately reinforce that to me the minute they enter the stage and strike the opening chord of Kingslayer.

Grand Magus are one of the few bands who haven’t really released an utterly shit album, therefore tonight’s set list is faultless, the one and only issue being that is wasn’t double in length. Speaking of albums, their latest release ‘Triumph and Power’ is possibly their strongest to date and the first track off it to be played tonight is On Hooves of Gold as fists are thrown in the air and lyrics are sung loud and proud. JB’s vocals on record are mind blowing and much to my relief that guy seriously pulls it off live, as well as busting out quintessential metal riffs. While possibly benefitting from a second guitarist to thicken the sound, Magus work in perfect cohesion as a trio. Steel Versus Steel again from the latest album is greeted as if it was an ageless Magus offering, prompting JB to point out that it is clearly a future classic, closely followed by an enthused reveller simply shouting out the word ‘STEEL’ amusing both the

crowd and band.

So many hits are dished out, meaning that at no point is there a lull, the crowd bang their heads and fist pump from start to finish. Set list highlights for me are, Triumph and Power, Ravens Guide Our Way, Iron Will and Like The Oar Strokes The Water but like I said not a weak song made an appearance, mainly because they simply don’t have any! The band seemed genuinely humbled by the incredible reaction from the crowd, but nothing prepared them for the reception of final song Hammer Of The North. Not a single body remained still as everyone whipped out their air guitar and proceeded to bang their heads to the unmistakable intro. The most fantastic moment of the gig came at the end of the song where the entire crowd sang the ‘woah’ choral section of the song so loud it could drown out the rowdiest of football fans. Despite the band finishing the song the crowd continue to sing, provoking one of the most spine tingling moments of any gig I have attended. JB, Fox and Ludwig are left stunned and heart warmed by the overwhelming passion of the crowd, which is nothing but monumentally deserved.

Well what more can I say, undoubtedly one of the best gigs I’ve been to. Get a chance to see Grand Magus live... for the love of god, do it.

Words by : Heather Blewett



The Vintage Caravan - Voyage - Album Review

The Vintage Caravan is a Hard Rock/Classic Rock Band from Álftanes, Iceland

The members are:

Óskar Logi Ágústsson -  (Guitar and vocals)
Guðjón Reynisson - (Drums)
Alexander Örn Númason - (Bass)

The Vintage Caravan new album - Voyage - is finally upon us. Newly signed to Nuclear Blast Records. We have seen the excellent music videos and trailers for Voyage. So is the album worth the wait. All I can say is a big HELL YEAH!!!

Voyage features 9 tracks blending Hard Rock, Classic Rock, Blues Rock and a huge dash of 70s Stadium Rock while giving it a much needed modern makeover. These guys are influenced by Led Zepp, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. But you can't deny what an awesome power trio the band actually is.

First track - Craving - gets right down to business of playing some finely tuned Hard Rock Riffs. Lead Vocalist - Óskar - is one hell of a frontman, channelling Robert Plant and Ozzy Osbourne in equal measure. The band know how to lay down a great riff that you can't help rocking out to.

Second track - Let Me Be - injects a more modern vibe into the mix with a touch of Stoner Rock slowly coming through. It plays on the hard rocking vibes of the 70s once more that is no bad thing when the music is this good. Definitely a big rock number to open a gig with. The Vintage Caravan prove what great musicians they actually as they play some truly spellbinding riffs here.

10 mins into the album and The Vintage Caravan play the compulsory - lighter/mobile in the air love song - with Do You Remember. A 5 minute song that features some of the albums most heartfelt lyrics. Now my only complaint is that the song feels a bit safe at times but full credit to the band showing they can play some tender riffs and writing a genuine heartfelt song.

The next track - Expand Your Mind - is my fave track off the album as it's brilliantly put together. The band have fused trippy lyrics and even trippier riffs to match. The Vintage Caravan inject superb Stoner Rock riffs to rock out to. This is where the band start to leave the trappings of the 70s Rock influences behind and prove what a truly original band they can be when they put their minds to it. Definitely the best track off the album.

The band storm through a barrage of excellent songs to boogie on down to. M.A.R.S.W.A.T.T and Cocaine Sally playing once again on the 70s Hard Rock Scene. Though the band slow things right down on Cocaine Sally. A dark cautionary tale which is played at a slow pace with the band on truly majestic form. You can tell the band put their hearts and soul into this song as it's the most tragic and endearing at the same time.

As you can tell by now but Voyage is an album deeply rooted in 70s Hard Rock/Classic Rock territory. A band should always play to their strengths and The Vintage Caravan have written an album that will win them many plaudits within the Hard Rock/Classic Rock scene. I will say on this form that The Vintage Caravan are one of the best Hard Rock/Classic Rock/Retro Rock bands currently out there.

For future albums I would love to see the band explore the sounds they captured on Expand Your Mind and the excellent 12 minute closing track - The Kings Voyage - as the bands sound truly comes alive on those two great tracks.

All in all - Voyage is an excellent album from start to finish. It's definitely a trip worth taking time and time again.

Highly Recommended.

Thanks To Nuclear Blast Records for sending us a promo to review. Voyage is available on CD/DD/Vinyl from all good stockists now.

Check The Band From Links Below

Nuclear Blast Records Band Page
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