GAUPA return with new mini album "Fyr" and a slimmed down line-up to serve up some of their heaviest material to date. A multi-layered play on words, in the Swedish language "Fyr" can mean 'four', which coincides with this being GAUPA's fourth release. Yet it can also mean 'lighthouse', 'beacon', and 'fire', which for various reasons fit the music and lyrical content as well.
GAUPA have utilized the departure of guitarist Daniel Nygren, who left the band in 2024, to manifest a "big turning point", according to remaining and now sole guitarist David Rosberg. With various changes to their writing process, they also worked in new studios, with a new recording crew, and new visual artists.
New engineer Karl Daniel Lidén has given the tracks on "Fyr" a grittier, more aggressive sound. At the same time, the core elements of the Swedes' musical approach are present: spellbinding intricacy, tripped-out, spacious verses guiding a steady stream of psychedelia, and waves of hard stoner riffs.
Inspired largely by Ursula K. Le Guin's award-winning science fiction novel "The Word for World Is Forest", vocalist Emma Näslund's lyrics contemplate the concept of time as well as the essential question as to what is real, which seeps throughout the songs.
Since the release of their self-titled EP in 2018, GAUPA – which translates as 'lynx' in English – have paved new ground in the stoner and psychedelic scene, building a unique cosmos defined by enchanting lyrical surrealism and mind-altering sounds. In 2020, their debut album "Feberdröm" pushed them into the international spotlight with its outstanding blend of progressive metal, doom, stoner, and folk, steered by the entrancing vocals of Emma Näslund.
Following the arrival of 2022's full-length "Myriad", with the track 'Exoskeleton' reaching over a million streams on Spotify (the EP's 'Febersvan' now has over 4 million), GAUPA went on to deliver unforgettable performances at prestigious festivals including Wacken Open Air, Hellfest, Sweden Rock, Mystic, and Desertfest among many others, as well as on tours with underground heavyweights such as UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS, BLOOD CEREMONY, and GRAVEYARD.
Although GAUPA describe "Fyr" as a "patchwork of parts", with each member having an equal part to play, this mini album comes as a solid record that sets a high bar for their future works. For the present, lean back, listen closely, and enjoy this captivating waypoint on the GAUPA journey!