UFO Över Lappland – Spokraketer (Burnt Toast Vinyl, 2022)
“Spökraketer” presents the captivating work of UFO Över Lappland, an instrumental progressive rock band from Umeå in northeastern Sweden. The group plays transfixing music, combining psychedelic rock jams with masterful distorted guitar lines; Krautrock and Hawkwind influences; trance-like beats; pulsating bass; and mesmerizing electronic soundscapes.
The title of the album, “Spökraketer” (Ghost rockets) speaks about the unidentified flying devices observed in northern Sweden during the 1940s. Although a detailed explanation of these observations has never been provided, declassified US Air Force files quotes the Swedish Air Intelligence Service stating, “these phenomena are obviously the result of a high technical skill which cannot be credited to any presently known culture on earth.”
Greenland photographer Thomas Christensen collaborated with UFO Över Lappland to capture images of the Aurora Borealis for the album’s artwork.
UFO Över Lappland includes Krister Mörtsell on guitar; Christer Blomquist on bass; Andreas Rejdvik on drums; and Peter Basun on synthesizers.