Kvelertak - Meir
Roadrunner, 2013
5/10
Forget everything
you’ve heard about this Norwegian group being black metal, it’s like calling
Skid Row thrash metal. Sure, there’s some elements of black metal in spots,
usually just some fast snare drumming, but that’s about it. Kvelertak’s second
album owes a lot more to garage punk and hardcore than anything else.
“Åpenbaring” is a decent if not somewhat mundane opening for Meir, but things get interesting quickly
with “Spring Fra Livet”, a catchy little song with an amazing chorus. “Trepan”
is another showcase for the unconventional writing style of Kvelertak; what
starts off sounding like black metal suddenly morphs into a cool alternative
rock vibe. The silly melody of “Bruane Brenn” doesn’t really work, while “Evig
Vandrar” drags until a master guitar riff takes over the second half of the
song. “Snilepisk” and “Månelyst” are more straightforward rock, and the
sprawling, ambitious “Nekrokosmos” is all over the map. Some Thin LIzzy-style
riffs make “Undertro” more interesting than most of the album but this energy
can’t be maintained for over six minutes. Interest wanes by this point and the
nearly nine minute-long “Tordenbrak” simply flies by before “Kvelertak” brings
the album to a stomping close. Meir
has some bright moments, but most of the album is too disjointed, confusing,
and noisy. Kvelertak is onto a pretty unique sound, however, the lack of great songs
ultimately fails to sustain my attention.
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