Music is a sound that can express emotions between people of different backgrounds, ethnicities and borders. Whilst google translate or press releases can give an indication of what the meaning of a song may be, it is the execution of the music that carries the most weight. The four tracks here require no translation to understand the emotional trauma suffered for Vægtløs to write Aftryk. The band uses a textured palette of screamo, blackened post-hardcore and post-metal to delve into themes of death and deadly disease of close relations and friends. Whilst I know not a word that is being screamed, I can garner the pain the members feel as they produce a maelstrom of anguish, suffering and release.
Vægtløs take the aesthetic of Nordic and European screamo and combines that with the more rapid side of post-black metal. Opener ‘Ingenting kan forhindre, at små struber skælver en forårsnat’ has moments of vocal delivery in a style employed by Birds In Row but musically it twists as rapidly as Oathbreaker. With four tracks spanning 38 minutes the band also swallows in the expansive attitudes of many post bands, themes are explored and honoured as the tracks progress rather than just rattling riff over riff. As with the opener, second track ‘Først da vi bar din kiste gik det op for mig, hvor meget tungt du skulle igennem, før du blev så let’ uses moments of space to increase the impact of what has past and what comes next.
Without being musically similar, the feelings this album rouses for me is akin to Amenra. ‘Her i vores hjerter bærer vi en ny verden’ has a far darker, more oppressive atmosphere than the rest of the album and makes the earlier songs seem light even though they most certainly aren’t. Amenra also has that ability to make the dark, darker and so too Vægtløs can move pain into a whole new arena. The tracks do use the post undertones to offer glimmers of hope, this isn’t all misery.
This is a perfect execution of screamo for post-metal fans. It has moments of pace amongst passages of contemplation and remains powerful throughout. Nothing here stays too long or isn’t given enough play through, it is just perfect. As well as an ambitious sound the record is being released on 46 different, amazing, labels worldwide. Although we are only entering the second month of the year Aftryk feels like it has the legs to stay well into the end of year lists and my words can not do it enough justice.
