Kvelertak are a fairly new band that hail from the dark music Mecca that is Norway. Their self-titled release is their first full length, with 11 tracks clocking in at 48 minutes.
I must admit, when I first came across this album, I was skeptical about how it would sound. When you use a John Baizley painting as your album art, you unintentionally peg yourself under a Baroness tag. However, these Norwegian rockers are quite far removed from the Georgian sludge some might try to lump them with. Kvelertak mix a thick, raw black metal sound with punk/thrash vibe and a bit of good old drunken rock and roll. Now, this description perhaps is a bit off-putting to some elitists, but these guys actually create well thought out music with riffs to blow your head off. And that's what makes this album so good: the riffs aren't all 'black metal' or 'thrash' or 'punk'. They mix and match and fuse different genres into an incredibly catchy album. Opener 'Ulvetid' starts with a chunky rock and roll riff before ripping into a familiar black metal sound; the track switches back and forth between the genres, but the transitions feel natural, not forced like in a lot albums trying to meld styles. A bit later in the album, 'Liktorn' is pure black metal to start, but then it turns into a pure drunk rock jam. Halfway through the same track, you get a viking metal-esque clean, harmonized chorus and a power chord-laden body. The album closer, 'Ultrydd dei Svake', finishes with an uplifting acoustic outro.
'Kvelertak' has an undeniable core to it's entire sound: an attitude of "we're going to play what we want, mixing what genres we want, fuck you if you don't like it." It's this attitude that makes this album fantastic, and hell, I'll say it: this is a fun album to listen to.
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