Kvelertak - Kvelertak (2010)^{Release ID: 3931}

Kvelertak’s sound is the kind that your parents would refer to as being a “racket”. Imagine a teenage you trying to piss your folks and neighbours off and Kvelertak is the soundtrack to that nefarious, hell-raising lifestyle. It is the noise blaring out of the youth’s earphones on the train that the whole carriage can hear because they have it turned up so loud. Whilst I may not one hundred percent get along with it, I can still hear the decadence and anarchism in the sound of a band who bring a bizarre mixture of hardcore punk and metalcore applying a blackened edge to it all for added interest.

The problem for me, being an underground dwelling black metal fan is that the record is just far too accessible with its over-emphasis on the “n’ roll” element of their sound. For all the murky production values here, I cannot help but think that this happened by accident and the expectation of the band was that this would sound cleaner. I am reminded of the Cancer Bats from the start of this record, such is the mainstream direction of the sound. They are earning straight A’s for energy and maintain these levels consistently across their debut album. I can imagine at the time this dropped it was lapped up by a marketplace eager to explore the more blackened side of the core trends that had developed. It has the ethics of a metalcore album played in a blackened punk style that maximises appeal whilst making (subtle) attempts to try and stay as punk as possible.

Tracks like Sultans of Satan are examples of this and how it does not work as they bounce between punk and some soaring rock riffs whilst deploying a chorus line that is near laughable at best. Still though I guarantee you will find your foot tapping along to this track as you listen to it. In many ways, Kvelertak are doing nothing wrong, it is only their association with black metal that sees them at the wrong end of my judgement as the other elements of this record are far more dominant than the bm input. I do not think that the Norwegians set out to be lumped in with the Darkthrone’s of their homeland for one minute – if they did then they are really, really, really misguided folks – instead their sound is geared to exploration of styles and transcending genres all whilst having a good fucking time in the process.

I almost want to enjoy it more than I do, especially given the concerted effort that they put into the record. However, it just is not in my realm to like this enough to even make me curious for a revisit every now and again. Kvelertak set their stall out early on their debut and I am kind of done with it before the halfway point in all honesty.

My only previous contact with Kvelertak was their 2020 album Splid, which I found to be quite a fun record, despite it not really being the type of release I would normally listen to. This, their debut released in 2010, doesn't quite float my boat as well as the later album. This is supposedly an early example of so-called Black 'n' Roll. Now I don't know about that so much, but if I was attempting to pigeonhole Kvelertak's sound then I would have to tag it as blackened punk metal, but that sounds more like late 2000's / early 2010's Darkthrone which this patently isn't. This is a much catchier type of metal altogether, sounding almost like melodic metalcore at times (blackened metalcore anyone?). So, most definitely not my usual type of thing at all. I do love both punk and metal, but only rarely when combined together do they really chime with me - Darkthrone being one such band who have managed it to my satisfaction - but I did enjoy this in the main. The caveat being that I think all the best tracks are front loaded, so that the album's power wanes after the halfway mark - Sultans of Satan being a track I really didn't enjoy and marking the point at which the quality tapers off, losing a little of the earlier tracks immediacy. I think I would have liked to hear a bit more by way of clean vocals as well, personally I find Erlen Hjelvik's vocals gets a little wearying after a while (as I do with most hardcore-derived vocals to be honest).
In a way my reaction to this is similar to the reaction I had to my brush with Trivium's In Waves recently - I enjoyed it far more than I expected to, probably wouldn't respin it too often, but when I fancied something a bit outside my usual then I could quite happily spend an hour or so with it.

A couple of months ago, I forced myself to listen to Entombed's album Wolverine Blues, an album that defines, for better or worse, the very niche subgenre of death 'n' roll. Needless to say I wasn't much of a fan. So this left me wondering where this crossover was with the Black Metal subgenre? Then I came to the realization that black 'n' roll has existed since the very beginning of black metal. The earliest "black metal" albums by Venom were heavily influenced by Hardcore Punk and had more accessible song structures and melodic songwriting. Black metal did not start with Darkthrone after all.

Now I already knew about Kvelertak as I have recently listened to and enjoyed their 2020 record, Splid. And while not much has changed in the decade since the self titled debut, the band are still pretty good songwriters and know how to put a hook together. Splitting the difference between hardcore punk and the most mainstream accessible metal that you can get. I mean the groove of "Nekrostop" sounds like it could have been taken directly from Metallica's Death Magnetic. The guitar melodies are very nice as if they are borrowed from the more post-hardcore side. The percussion and bass work is not too bad; the low end is booming throughout and while their is not that much independence from the rhythm guitar, it stands out.

One thing that I did make a note of right away before even beginning to listen to this record, was how similar this records album cover looked to that of the band Baroness. I did not think anything of it at first...until I started listening to the record and heard the production. Their is so much blown out distortion in the guitars and the bass drum on this record. It can become pretty infuriating once you hear it. I made the Baroness comparison because many of those records have the same problem. Yet for Baroness, those records are supposed to sound clean. This is a punk record first and foremost, and while I can let the messy production slide because of the almost sloppy nature of this sound, I can only let it go to a certain extent. This production does get muddy, which is never good on any record.

As a result, what could have been a great record is only a pretty good one. Kvelertak's self titled debut was a real eye opener at the time and revitalized a love for this genre's true roots. It has some great changes of pace throughout the record and doesn't let up for the entire album. It's a must listen for those looking to hear the 2010s expansion of this niche subgenre, even if I don't think it's the cream of the crop in the subgenre, let alone in Kvelertak's discography.