September 2025 Feature Release - The Infinite Edition

So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.

This month's feature release for The Infinite, nominated by me (Shadowdoom9 (Andi)), is the 2021 sophomore album by Swedish thall leaders Vildhjarta, Måsstaden Under Vatten. For those wanting to get into this brutal subgenre of djent, this masterpiece can give you a whopping 80 minutes (really cutting in on the 80-minute CD limit) of thall. So get ready for some apocalyptic downtuned kaos (yeah that's how they spell it)!

https://metal.academy/releases/31650

I've done my review, here's its summary:

A decade had passed since the djenty debut album by Vildhjarta, Masstaden, the album that pushed the boundaries of djent just like when Meshuggah invented it in the mid-90s. The long wait for their second album is partially because of Calle Thomer (guitar) and Buster Odeholm (drums) being focused on fellow thall developer Humanity's Last Breath. They still have their perfect groove-ish progressive djent in this next album, the massive 80-minute Masstaden Under Vatten (Seagull Town Underwater)! While thall can mean anything, I would say it's as evil and strong as Thrall, the World of Warcraft character that inspired the genre's name. This is exemplified by the complexity, atmosphere, and downtuned heaviness that make the subgenre, following the band's unconventional ways including no set structure, destructive riffing, and clean melody only used for haunting atmosphere, thereby maintaining the band's aggressive evolution. The talent of each member shines from the vocals of Vilhelm Bladin, the drums of Odeholm, the guitars of Thomer and Daniel Bergstrom, and the bass of Johan Nyberg, all drifting through dark djenty waters. The thall sound has opened up dimensions of darkness and brutality that barely any other band could. This is true kaos!

5/5

Recommended tracks: "Nar De Du Alskar Kommer Tillbaka Fran De Doda", "Toxin", "Den Helige Anden", "Passage Noir", "Vagabond", "Detta Drommars Skote en Sloja Till Ormars Naste", "Sunset Sunrise", "Sunset Sunrise Sunset Sunrise", "Paaradiso"

For fans of: Humanity's Last Breath, Meshuggah, Reflections

This is currently #1 on the RYM all-time Thall chart and it is easily the best Thall album I have ever heard. OK, so I had never even heard of Thall until a few minutes ago, so it hasn't had a great deal of competition in my listening world so far. To me it sounds like a very precise version of the Gothenburg sound that is heavily invested in technicality and progressive songwriting. Djent, the nearest approximation to this I am familiar with, isn't a style of metal I listen to much, it is such a technically precise sub-genre that in my limited experience I find it too sterile and unengaging for my particular taste and this is very much in that vein. Whilst the performers are obviously exceedingly adept musicians, this just doesn't stir too much within me and whilst I can appreciate technical mastery on an intellectual level, my preference is much more for music that resonates with me on an emotional and gut level. I would rather have a sloppy-sounding record that makes me fired up, emotionally drained, full of joy or bereft with sadness than such technical sterility. However, that is just me and if you are the kind of person who revels in such displays of instrumental dexterity and appreciate the fruits of obvious craftsmen at work then I would imagine that Vildhjarta are an absolute dream.

All this said, I still listened to the entire 80 minutes and never once felt the need to skip tracks or look at the clock to see how long might be left so, on some level, this must have tweaked something within my brain because I am normally very impatient with this level of technicality in metal. The riffs, a bit staccato as they are for my taste, still felt quite brutal and aggressive, whilst the post-metally bits complemented this controlled aggression very nicely. To be honest, this is an album that has interested me sufficiently that I may return to it at some point in the future as I feel that there maybe something here for me after all and perhaps it did stir more in me than I originally thought.

I'm gonna say a 3.5/5 for now, but with the potential for improvement at some future time.