By: Martyn Coppack
Vattnet Viskar | website | facebook | twitter | bandcamp |
Released on June 29, 2015 via Century Media Records
In many respects black metal may be the most important thing to happen to heavier music when all is said and done. Whereas other sub-genres of metal have pretty much stood still, it is the violent and chaotic side that has flourished since those early days of church burnings. Indeed, you would be hard pressed to recognise many aspects of black metal as it used to be, but the theme has always stayed the same, one of humanity and humanity’s never-ending fate to cause violence and despair. Ironically for such a vicious theme, beauty has reared its head too and as the genre evolved into what is pretty much a post- era, we may have reached a pinnacle for intelligent metal.
Of course, there are also the albums which fail on so many levels and bring the genre down, but it’s fair to say that Settler, the new album from Vattnet Viskar is certainly not one of them. In fact, you could argue that the New Hampshire band may even be pushing at the boundaries once again as they seek new ways to expand on the post-black metal palette. Interestingly it is not musically this time, although there are many inflections into the atmospheric and majestic. Instead, it is lyrically and with an album semi inspired by the Challenger space shuttle explosion, themes of human exploration, evolution and devastation are to the forefront once again. Instead of burning churches and looking inwards, Vattnet Viskar look outwards to the sky and seek greater ideas of existence.
So much, so deep and as you would expect from a band steeped in black metal history, Settler is an album which delivers on many levels. There is an almost lo-fi production giving the buzzsaw guitars an extra grimy feel whilst the muddy drums play blastbeats behind an ever increasing feel of desperation. Dread is at the forefront as the vocals scream out their withering cry and you feel a full range of emotions before they even reach the final climax.
What sets this album apart though, is the way it builds up into an eerie and devastating climax. Much like the final minutes of the Challenger space shuttle as the astronauts feel a slight glimpse of their fate, we are thrust into the minds for those brief seconds as all life passes before you. Vattnet Viskar expand on that microcosm and bring a set of songs, which explore the many facets of existence and evolution from the birth of insects and the hive mentality to that final glorious/inglorious moment when life is snuffed out. It’s audacious, but it also seems so easy.
It works as they deliver a set of songs which all run in at under five or six minutes eschewing the usual epic quality. That’s not to say there is a lack of epic-ness about Settler, as there is, but it’s just done in a much simpler and more compact way. Not that you will single out any song though as the album is all of a piece and each one complements each other to its final denouement. Like being thrust onto an unstoppable ride, much like life, it is only death which can release you.
It’s albums like this that move the scene forward and we can count ourselves blessed that we are in an age when heavy music is reaching yet another pinnacle. It may not be mainstream, but that is for other people who see music as a throw away commodity. For those who see music as art and life, Settler is one of those albums which becomes part of your being. Intelligent, thought provoking and beautiful, it is also masterfully vicious and sonically threatening. All hail the new kings of post-black metal.
