VILDHJARTA

Måsstaden Under Vatten

Century Media
rating icon 8.5 / 10

Track listing:

01. Lavender Haze
02. När De Du Älskar Kommer Tillbaka Från De Döda
03. Kaos2
04. Toxin
05. Brännmärkt
06. Den Helige Anden (Under Vatten)
07. Passage Noir
08. Måsstadens Nationalsång (Under Vatten)
09. Heartsmear
10. Vagabond
11. Mitt Trötta Hjarta
12. Detta Drömmars Sköte En Slöja Till Ormars Näste
13. Phantom Assassin
14. Sunset Sunrise
15. Sunset Sunrise Sunset Sunrise
16. Penny Royal Poison
17. Paaradiso


Eight years have passed since VILDHJARTA released a new record (the superb "Thousands Of Evils" EP),and the heavy music landscape has changed sufficiently that the Swedes' long-awaited full-length sounds every bit as contrary and otherworldly as its predecessor ("Måsstaden") did in 2011, despite the familiarity of their crushing, futuristic sound. Frequently dismissed as MESHUGGAH clones, VILDHJARTA only share some bare-bones rudiments with their fellow countrymen: most notably giant, seven-string riffs and a shared disdain for traditional time signatures. Dig deeper into this sprawling, 81-minute colossus and it becomes abundantly clear that VILDHJARTA have been steadily evolving as time has ticked inexorably on.

"Lavender Haze"'s opening cacophony sets the tone: a warped and willful re-imagining of that initial three-dimensional-djent blueprint, it's a tangle of riffs and mechanical tension, but with endless textural static filling the sonic picture. "Kaos2"'s lurching, sledgehammer assault repeats the trick, with layered vocals and hissing, electric fog leaking skimming the paintwork on that monstrous, riff-driven undercarriage; while "Toxin" is a brief but devastating slab of knucklehead tech-doom with cavernous bottom end and a bad attitude. As it progresses, "Måsstaden Under Vatten" reveals more of its secrets. "Brännmärkt" is death metal heavy and dark as hell, but with multiple twists, turns and tangential tempo tricks; "Den Helige Anden (Under Vatten)" embraces a hulking, four-to-the-floor beat and a strong sense of existential melancholy, before erupting in polyrhythmic slow motion and dragging the world down with it.

Admittedly, this is not an album full of love or hope. Where many of their obvious peers and contemporaries favor the light-and-shade approach, VILDHJARTA have not compromised one iota on the brutality that underscores everything they do. Neither is this an album for those with a short attention span: the atmosphere that the Swedes generate builds incrementally, through the savage structures of its first few songs, into the more dramatic and curiously catchy likes of "Passage Noir" and "Sunset Sunrise", and on to the riveting dynamics, skewed hooks and ululating sludge of the epic "Vagabond" and "Phantom Assassin"'s ghostly post-rock pugilism. Like some magnificent, futuristic and unfathomable steel sculpture erupting from the earth beneath our feet, "Måsstaden Under Vatten" is an exercise in black-hearted tech-metal as an art form: episodic and immersive, it's the kind of record that demands commitment. But when you hear something as jaw-dropping and alien as grand finale "Paaradiso" — ten minutes of glacial, mechanistic and unpredictable destruction, with a disarming, pitch-black coda — it will be commitment given willingly. The wait has been more than worth it. VILDHJARTA are back with a (very weird and wonderful) vengeance.

Author: Dom Lawson
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).