Time Signature
Hour of the wolf...
Genre: punk rock meets hardrock/metal meets black metal
My introduction to this band was their live performance at Copenhell 2011. An incredible live band, they obviously won me over immediately, and being the supporter of rock music that I am, I went out and bought the album (fuck illegal downloads [sorry, I'm stoked on rock 'n' roll now]).
And, of course, I was positively surprised, as the studio album actually captures a lot of the energy that is present in the music at the band's live performances (well, at least the one live performance I have seen). The music is primarily anchored in a blend of hardrock and punk rock with an energy output that corresponds to that of a lightning bolt from a clear blue sky. This is sprinkled with black metal elements, and the band seamlessly change from a rock 'n' roll part into blastbeat-and-tremolo part and back again. The opening track 'Ulvetid' starts out a barrage of black metal mayhem and then morphs into raw punk rock and changes back and forth between the two. In addition, they sometimes insert elements from 70s blues rock and southern rock - again with seamless ease.
A great plus about this album, in my perspective, is that it contains a lot of elements that I love from both hard rock, punk rock, traditional metal, and black metal and combine these into, what I think is a very innovative type of rock 'n' roll from which both aggression and good fun emanate.
The production is a bit retro and has more in common with proto-metal and hard rock than black metal in terms of the guitar production, while the drums have a big, but well-defined sound. Also, the bass is quite audible and contributes importantly to the overall sound of the album.
at the end of the day Kvelertak's debut is a lesson in rock 'n' roll, and with they updated blend of punk rock and heavy metal elements, Kvelertak may well be the next Motörhead.