Album Review: Kvelertak: "Meir"

This is one of the best metal albums I've heard in a loooong time. I'm psyched to be seeing this Norwegian band open for Gojira (from France) and Mastodon (headlining and from Georgia, USA) on Thursday, May 8, 2014 at the Riviera Theater in Chicago.
This show will be even better because it's my 15th wedding anniversary and my lovely bride is spending it with me headbanging. Thanks, Jill!

Kvelertak

*Meir*

(Roadrunner)

This Norwegian band is at its best early and often on this 11-track second album. They cut their scream-o, full-tilt hardcore with straight-up punk rock that serves as a relatively groovy, and much needed, break from the high-energy catharsis started on opener “Apenbaring” and seamlessly transitioning to the blistering “Spring Fra Livet.” Get over the language barrier: it doesn’t matter that these boys wail in Norwegian, the chorus to “Bruane Brenn” is so damn catchy you sing the harmony anyway. The vocals serve as an extra roaring instrument rather than transmitter of ideas or themes. The seven-piece isn’t one-dimensional or tied to a specific metal genre: “Snilepisk” is the most thrash-like track, and “Nekrokosmos” marks the beginning of three tracks in a row that take a grungy prog-metal approach with extended instrumental explorations.

9

- Jason Scales
Link to PDF print version in the July 2014 issue of Illinois Entertainer (navigate to page 32):
http://www.joomag.com/magazine/illinois-entertainer-july-2014/0584122001404175496