The Vintage Caravan – Portals
Release Date: 26th September 2025
Label: Napalm Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Prog Rock, Psychedelic Retro Rock.
FFO: Cream, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Rush, Rival Sons, Kadavar.
Review By: Paul Franklin
Icelandic retro-fueled prog rock trio The Vintage Caravan return with their sixth studio album, Portals, which sees them continue to build their growing reputation in the scene. A reputation that impressed progressive metal giants Opeth enough for them to offer them a tour support slot, and presumably why now Mikael Åkerfeldt’s unmistakable vocals can be heard over the 70s vibes conjured up by opening track Philosopher.
Next up is Portal I, which is a brief 36 seconds of birds tweeting and flute, which can be seen as an interlude, an intro to the next track (in this case the heavy groove of Days Go By), or an invitation to hit the ‘skip’ button. The same goes for Portal II, III, IV and V, one suspects that after the initial listen the later would prove to be the most popular option!
Fortunately, the rest of the songs on the album could be justifiably described as bangers. The Vintage Caravan have got this prog-psychedelic-retro rock thing nailed down tighter than a teepee in a tornado. Here You Come Again explores the more progressive side whilst still kicking up a storm, before the reflective echoes in Current showcase a more melancholic side.
Give and Take and Crossroads bring back the classic retro rock sound, and some sublime guitar solos. That is a particular strength of these three guys, while a lot of their music is very ‘proggy’ and even ‘folky’ at times, they avoid the temptation to go ‘FULL PROG’ and introduce flutes and organs, preferring instead to let rip with enormous face-peeling solos just when you fear things are about to get too ‘Tolkien-esque’.
The raging bluesy Riot sits as a musical Ying/Yang with the mellow, acoustic My Aurora, then Portals concludes with the up-tempo blast along This Road, which, if they continue to follow in the same direction as they are with this album, will only lead to greater destinations.
One caravan you won’t mind being stuck behind!
(4 / 5)
