Sometimes you don’t know what you need until you hear it. The mixture of frost-bitten Norwegian black metal and AC/DC-style rock’n’roll sounds, on paper at least, like an awful idea. And yet, in 2010 an as-then-unheard-of band named Kvelertak appeared as if from nowhere bringing exactly that ungodly concoction to the table, and few could have expected just how wonderful that rock cocktail would be. The band’s self-titled début album was an absolute revelation, the kind of wake up call the heavy music world experiences only once in a blue moon. The Rogaland, Norway sextet took the world by storm, in just a few short months going from opening small club shows to headlining, eventually being hand-plucked by acts like Foo Fighters and Metallica to support in arenas around the globe.
After a couple of whirlwind years the band returned in 2013 with the highly anticipated sophomore release ‘Meir’. Though there were plenty of sweet jams to be found on the album, it seemed like the band had already plateaued, much of the record feeling like a simple rehash of the best moments from ‘Kvelertak’. After such a barnstorming introduction, it was hard not to be disappointed that an act who earned our love from crafting a daring and unexpected mesh of disparate musical extremes could come back with nothing new to say on only their second album.
Fast forward to the present day, and Kvelertak have returned with their third full length release, ‘Nattesferd’. It’s clear right away, before the record even begins in fact, that the band are looking to shake up the formula this time around. Unlike the first two albums, the cover art for ‘Nattesferd’ has not been provided by the endlessly talented John Dyer Baizley (of Baroness), instead Arik Roper (Sleep, High On Fire) has been drafted to create the very 70’s prog-inspired sleeve. Also, long-time producer and engineer Kurt Ballou (he of Converge fame, also producer of 99% of all great hardcore/metal albums of the last 20 years) is nowhere to be found, replaced by Nick Terry, who has for the first time recorded the band in their native Norway. Though these changes may appear to be superficial, it’s an obvious statement of intent on Kvelertak’s part – they are not defined by their record sleeves or producer, only by their own music.
Ah, the music. Kvelertak released a single, ‘1985’, a month or two back as a teaser for the album, and first impressions were mixed to say the least. Far from the onslaught of blackened rock found on the band’s previous releases, the song sounded like it could have been lifted from a Rainbow or Thin Lizzy record (Erlend Hjelvik’s signature growl notwithstanding) – a plodding, mid-paced affair filled with melodic harmonised guitars, ‘1985’ was far gentler than anything the band had committed to tape before, and left lingering worries that ‘Nattesferd’ would have lost the band’s razor edge. Just a few seconds into the album’s first track ‘Dendrofil for Yggdrasil’ however, it becomes clear that Kvelertak are still the band we fell in love with back in 2010. The song peels out of the gates with a flurry of blastbeats and black metal riffs, albeit soaked with the triple guitar harmonies the band are known for very much in place, and is an exhilarating opener to what quickly reveals itself to be an absolutely wonderful album.
After ‘1985’ (which itself sounds much better within the context of its mother album), the album shifts gleefully between high-octane riff storms (‘Bronsegud’, ‘Berserkr’) and more melodic, anthemic tracks like the epic penultimate track ‘Heksebrann’. Where ‘Meir’ felt a little one-note at times, the dynamics on ‘Nattesferd’ are much more considered, the shifts between full on metal fury and old fashioned hard rock are more frequent, but also feel much more natural. In general the song crafting on this album trumps its immediate predecessor – on ‘Meir’ it felt, particularly towards the end of the album, that songs were dragged on longer than necessary. In contrast, ‘Nattesferd’ is a more compact and refined experience that never outstays its welcome. At just 9 tracks it’s the shortest record Kvelertak have put out, but that doesn’t hurt it one bit.
It’s hard for a band whose début made such a visceral impact on the music scene at large to really capture that lightning in a bottle again. ‘Meir’ was a good example of the old ‘sophomore slump’, however on ‘Nattesferd’ it appears that it really is third time lucky. Though it’s hard to say this improves upon the template Kvelertak laid down with their excellent first album, this feels like the first real evolution for the band after treading water on its follow up.
JAMES LEE