Vildhjarta - + Där skogen sjunger under evighetens granar + (2025)^{Release ID: 60068}

It's quite a mystery how so many bands can pull off a genre well despite it losing the spark of interest it once had. Vildhjarta is one of the few ongoing bands that can still be considered a true pioneer of a genre nowadays. They started out in the djent scene of the early 2010s alongside Tesseract and Periphery, but stand out amongst them with their own djent subgenre thall. Their perfect legacy has spanned between their first two albums, staying loyal to their fans. And just under 4 years after their second album, their 3rd one Dar Skogen Sjunger Under Evighetens Granar (Swedish for "Where the Forest Sings Under the Eternal Spruce Trees") continues the gigantic brutal drama!

A few pre-release singles came out in the couple years before the album's release, and they continue to show their progressive stamina. Despite the remaining original member guitarist Daniel Bergstrom having left the band between songrwriting and recording, nothing has changed. In fact, this album has some of their heaviest work to date. Serene ambience gets crushed by a hailstorm of devastation.

"Byta Ut Alla Stjarnor Pa Himlen Mot Plustecken" (Replace All the Stars in the Sky with Plus Signs) plays around with some riffing in the intro, as the sun is darkened by an eclipse of downtuned guitar and bass, with the smog of brutality completely blocking out all light, similar to the Minecraft Betweenlands mod. The riffs and rhythms are both atmospheric and punishing. Melody only comes from the ambience. Everything else is an avalanche of heavy technical riffing. And there's more of that in "Tva Vackra Svanar" (Two Beautiful Swans), along with a brief moment of soft beauty in the middle. The end result is an experimental sludgy track like a more downtuned Will Haven. Then we get to a couple singles, starting with "Sargasso". The other single "Ylva" (Eleven) has some melodic ambience while focusing mainly on relentless guitars and drums.

"Dar Mossan Moter Havet" (Where the Moss Meets the Sea) has some progressiveness from Mechina and Protest the Hero without ever going as melodic as those bands. "Roda Lappar, Sota Applen" (Red Lips, Sweet Apples) barely has any sweetness, preferring to go all-out brutal similar to some of the more sludgy tracks by Every Time I Die and The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza. "Kristallfagel" (Crystalbird) masters the brilliant dreamy djent, while Vilhelm Bladin's vocals stay intense. "? Regnet, the ?" (The Rain, the) has some of the metalcore from God Forbid and Knocked Loose made even heavier and more sludgy.

"Hosten Som Togs Ifran Mig" (The Autumn That Was Taken From Me) has some slight vibes from Bleed from Within. "Viktlos & Evig" builds up the mathy thall further, swinging through progressive intricacy and occasional cleans. "Stjarnblodning" has some Varials vibes bleeding out. The final track "Den Spanska Kanslan" has the last unforgiving riffing throughout this glorious 7-minute epic before letting light shine again, albeit not as bright as it once was.

This skull-crushing offering Dar Skogen Sjunger Under Evighetens Granar is another irresistible album to look out for. It probably would've been perfect if the song titles weren't all in Swedish and having plus signs surrounding each one. Still this is true thall hellfire!

Favorites: "Tva Vackra Svanar", "Ylva", "Dar Mossan Moter Havet", "Kristallfagel", "Viktlos & Evig", "Den Spanska Kanslan"