And just like that I have a new favorite band. GAUPA hit the scene with their debut self-titled EP in the way back of 2018. They survived the year of our plague, even putting out their first full-length, Feberdröm (trans: fever drum). Two years later they put out Myriad then teased us with a short live session album in 2023 (also captured on video) and then finally, finally on July 4, 2025, they drop another EP, Fyr. I’m disappointed that we didn’t get a full-length, but this EP is so good I can see why they didn’t want to wait before releasing the four gems that make up the core of Fyr.

The cover art of Fyr (by Kutlayus) looks like an adult coloring book. Not adult as in porno, but adult as in meditative, psychedelic drink your green tea and just chill. In fact, they missed a marketing ploy by not packaging the album with color art pens. Just saying. But as impressive as the cover is, and it really is a thing to behold and just stare into for hours, the actual music—four tracks plus a bonus track from their aforementioned live session—is stunning. In fact, I’ll go on record right now as saying it’s their best album to date. Which is saying a lot because their other albums are pretty damned good, but this album, Fyr, is impeccable. Every track, every second, just they whole damn thing, impeccable.

If you’re new to GAUPA, their a Swedish (of course) quintet who do a Stoner/Doom/Psych thing. A bit of Folk in there too, but not like Viking Folk, more like DANEFAE. Also, a bit of Prog but that might be more about their exceptional musicianship. I mean, when musicians to a certain level of proficiency people tend to call them Prog just because it smells like genius. And GAUPA, like any self-respecting Swedish band, are outrageously talented musicians and songwriters. Also, Emma Näslund. I mean, jesusgod, Emma Näslund. I’m ready to start a new religion based on her if anyone wants to join me.

In other news though, there has been a lineup change. Fyr sees the departure of Daniel Nygren, leaving David Rosberg as the lone guitarist. Some would say the heaviness of the album comes down to this change. Others would say it’s due to the new engineer Karl Daniel Lidén. To be honest, though, other GAUPA albums had heft as well, so who really knows.

The album starts with “Lion’s Thorn.” And really, they could have just did a one-track album and I would have died happy. But thankfully they cared to add three more tracks, and now the world will have to put up with me a bit longer. This first track comes in at over seven minutes and unspools itself with the utmost patience. Some sonic marination here. Next up is “Heavy Lord.” The shortest track on the album it’s also the heaviest, but not in riffage or bpm, but in sheer down-tuned db. And also, heavy lyrics: “Heavy lord, estimate / The weight of my darkest thoughts in words.” Femur breaking, molar rattling, soul shaking. Love it.  

Track three, “Ten of Twelve” is the track you might want to ponder on while you color in the cover. The lyrics are simple but curious. Roosters, bad luck, “needless carnage on a spike”—just three things that go so well together. Great track, but track four, “Elastic Sleep,” the final track before the bonus track, the longest track on the album. This one. This one. There are entire couplets on this track that Emma intones like one long primordial word. No breathing apparently.

To top the album off, we’re given a bonus track from the live session at MonkeyMoon Studios, which is actually two songs—“Sömnen” (trans: sleep) from Myriad and “Febersvan” (trans: fever) from their debut EP. “Sömnen” delivered all in Swedish (I’m guessing) and “Febersvan” with two lines of frighteningly prophetic lyrics interspersed with primeval laments: “Feel our shelter / running through our hands.” Promo material mentions that band has taken some inspiration from Ursula K. LeGuin’s novel The Word for the World in Forest. This one definitely fits the bill.

Yeah, so I really dig this album. And I really dig this band. Fyr is an astounding feat for GAUPA. If you haven’t discovered them yet, today is your day. If you are a returning fan, you’ll love this one.