GAUPA

Mystic riff-worshippers from Falun, Sweden, GAUPA have matured into one of the most fascinating bands in the fuzzy-brained world of stoner rock and psychedelic doom. As their last full-length album "Myriad" confirmed, they have an open-minded creative policy that allows all manner of strange and exotic influences to penetrate the expected wall of giant, doomy riffs. Vocalist Emma Näslund has a voice that is unique to the genre, tinged with Bjork-like eccentricity and driven by wild, post-punk intensity, but as powerful and distinctive as it gets at this point along the heaviness spectrum. On "Fyr" (which is supposedly an EP, but has a running time of 36 minutes, which is 6-ish minutes longer than "Reign In Blood", so who knows what's going on?) GAUPA drift even further into freewheeling oddness, conjuring vivid, turbocharged soundscapes for their singer to scramble across. Billed as a "patchwork" rather than a focused statement, this is every bit as coherent and immersive as the full lengths that have preceded it.

Both the opening "Lion's Thorn" and "Heavy Lord" are shining examples of how easily GUAPA shrug off the shackles of their chosen genre and twist and dance through other realms with impunity. The former is a slow-burning, riff-powered monolith with breezy, psychedelic overtones. The latter is a boisterous post-punk sprint shrouded in ethereal interference and propelled by quasi-electronic momentum. Next, "Ten Of Twelve" is simply fabulous: an artful, spaced-out miasma of curious hooks and hypnotic, Krautrock crescendos, it revolves, whirlwind-like, around a spine-tingling vocal from Näslund. Similarly, "Elastic Sleep" is an electrifying web of riffs and tantalizing lulls, but it is the singer's elegant mood swings, from frantic to fragile, that put a mesmerizing seal on the whole gorgeous enterprise. Previous releases have certainly found ways to bypass cherished stoner rock fundamentals, and GAUPA have never conformed to traditional notions of how best to deal with a grubby old SABBATH riff, but "Fyr" feels like a particularly huge leap forward.

All of that said, the closing "bonus" track suggests that this evolution has been ongoing for at least two years. Taken from live studio sessions and previously released in 2023, "Sömnen/Febersvan" combines the most tender and riff-allergic track on "Myriad" with the opening track from the Swedes' 2018 self-released, self-titled EP. "Sömnen" is an utterly disarming, nearly solo turn from Näslund; "Febersvan" is more firmly tethered to the stoner rock flagpole, but GAUPA's intrinsic weirdness never allows the repeating riffs to dull nor the groove to lose its charm. Both are spellbinding.

The worst thing one could say about "Fyr" is that it teases the possibility of a truly mind-blowing full-length record to come and then fails to deliver it, because that's just not how these things work. Fair enough. But there is something magical going on here, and we need more of it. Please.