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Couple the fact that The Vintage Caravan recorded Arrival in an old ballroom beside an isolated fjord with their age (barely out of their teens) and it makes for a trio so achingly hip that it makes you wonder what’s in Icelandic waters.

While the scene is brimming with 70s blues-rock, something about TVC’s old-man approach to unravelling jams suggests they’ve got something special. As soon as Arrival kicks off with its Western-flavoured intro, it sets the scene for a dusty landscape of fuzzed-up guitars and inflamed guitar solos.

Babylon and Eclipsed aren’t shy about waving to Sabbath and teeter on the side of average, but the swagger of Crazy Horses and Sandwalker hark back to the uptempo character of 2014’s Voyage. Carousel is a stand-out moment that hints at songwriting maturity.

Frontman Oskar Logi Ágústsson’s larynx is going to take ripening before it makes him a star, but this van is heading in the right direction./o:p

With over 10 years’ experience writing for Metal Hammer and Prog, Holly has reviewed and interviewed a wealth of progressively-inclined noise mongers from around the world. A fearless voyager to the far sides of metal Holly loves nothing more than to check out London’s gig scene, from power to folk and a lot in between. When she’s not rocking out Holly enjoys being a mum to her daughter Violet and working as a high-flying marketer in the Big Smoke.