"Kvelertak (Kuh-vell-er-tack) is a band from Norway that plays rock music." This quote is how the band describe themselves. They were formed in 2007 and released their well received self-titled debut on June 21, 2010. The band's name is the Norwegian for "stranglehold". The band, a sextet with three guitars, has recently welcomed Ivar Nikolaisen as frontman following the departure of Erlend Hjelvik. Ivar is making his studio debut with Kvelertak's 4th album Splid ('discord' in English). Most of their songs have Norwegian lyrics, and their main influences are rock and roll, black metal and punk rock. I remember being quite impressed with their very good debut album, but my enthusiasm diminished with each subsequent release. In 2020 with a new singer, new label, I was curious to hear where they are going. The answer is one hour of catchy riffs, punk rock and heavy metal unusual mix with progressive tendencies.
The first four songs are short and while mostly hardcore/punk influenced, they are quite metallic and engaging. Track 4, "Discord" is the only one in English. Later with "Ved bredden av Nihil" they bring back that black n' roll vibe from the first albums. Those are fun and well executed tracks that will certainly work well live. But the album really shines with the longer tracks. Starting with "Bråtebrann", a 7-min prog adventure with great drumming and metal riffing while still using hardcore vocals mixed with some clean backing vocals. To top it off, a bluesy guitar solo! "Fanden ta dette hull!" is another amazing prog track, it sounds almost like The Beach Boys or maybe even Rush? But it gets also thrashy and becomes a headbanger! The guitar solo section could be out of Kill 'Em All. The last two songs "Delirium tremens" and "Ved bredden av Nihil" are the other prog highlights. Those four songs are very interesting and it is where Kvelertak excels, this unorthodox mix of genres to create something unique is really cool.
Overall I really like the drum work and the guitar tones throughout the album. Add those to a good production and the result is a clear mix in which even the bass can be heard. The vocal approach is versatile but mostly hardcore/punk screams with occasional black metal growls and moments with clean singing. It all works well.
Prog is one of my favorite music genres, with Splid Kvelertak demonstrated that they can be progressive, epic and unique, so to me it is frustrating to have to skip some punky forgettable songs (e.g. "Uglas Hegemoni") in the middle of the album to get to the prog tracks. Despite those bumps on the road, Splid is their best album since the debut and certainly makes me very curious and excited to see where they are going next.
SCORE: 80/100
Genre: Hardcore / Black N' Roll
Released by RiseRecords on February 14th, 2020
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Rating System
96 - 100 Perfect
88 - 95 Excellent
84 - 87 Great
80 - 83 Very Good
75 - 79 Good
69 - 74 Mixed
58 - 68 Bad
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