Svalbard - The Weight of the Mask Review
Post-rock and Black Metal lay a firm foundation and SVALBARD attempt to go about this with vigour.
Review by Max Steel
Taking their name from a tiny Norwegian archipelago, Svalbard show exactly where their influences stem from by blending blatantly Scandinavian elements into their sound.
Post-rock and Black Metal lay a firm foundation to build any atmosphere upon, and Svalbard attempt to go about this with vigour. It’s the inclusion of hardcore that makes it an interesting combination and an ambitious project that has legs to not only stand on, but sprint.
Losing no time straight out the gate, we’re offered Faking it. The English natives start the album with a ferocity and excitement that I think will lend itself to any live setting. Be it a small sweaty club with bodies flailing and beers lashing punters, or to a festival-sized audience who stand back and appreciate the onslaught. Sing-along taglines “I don’t feel hope, I just fake it, you don’t feel real, nothing is sacred” mean fans will enjoy this one live endlessly and likewise scream along in their car on repeat. We find PLENTY of space to let the track bloom and a familiar flow that would make any diehard metalcore fan happy. As far as openers to albums go, this set the mood just right.
What is to follow, should have been monumental. There are aspects I adore including elements that tantalize and excite, but they’re lost amongst stagnant production and a sometimes monotone mix.
The vocals are a shared duty in Svalbard, and Serena Cherry and Liam Phelan handle this seamlessly. An endless call and response that is both functional and tonally complimentary. Both their harsh vocals work so well that it’s hard to decipher (at least on first listen) who takes what role and what line. And rather than sticking to the trope of “lady soft - man angry” the team work well to breakdown any, and all emotional boundaries that one could expect. Tackling heavy issues with mental health and the darker side of love, is common ground for any band with hardcore elements to handle, and Svalbard do this consistently throughout The Weight of the Mask.
Lights Out is a standout for this reason. The vulnerability provided by the lyricist (again hard to tell when there are two lead vocalists) is palpable. “I’m too depressed to show you how depressed I am” seems a bit cliché, but also … you’ve got to have the guts to willingly want to sing that for anyone let alone a room full of people.
“This feels beyond depression, the weight of the mask buries me into silence, no one cared that the light in me is out, im screaming for help while im losing myself, trapped in a secred mental hell”
This track is for the long drives, and the longer nights. Best played loud.
How To Swim Down the only track to contain solely clean vocals, should be a monument to the more ethereal, postrock/atmospheric black metal side of the band. The saxophone has a nice texture, but unfortunately is lost. Where this track needs grow then dwindle, ebb and flow, is lost in a mix so tightly focussed on a concept that the execution falls short. I can hear the velocity of the strikes on the drums increase, but it all still feels very narrow. In a song that should have a lot of organic aspects, falls a touch short.
What follows is bread and butter territory for Svalbard. Be My Tomb is about as triumphant sounding as these guys get. It’s almost an easy core track along the lines of A Day To Remember laced tightly with sing-along moments. I expect glitter cannons, raised arms, and smiles plastered on people's faces when this drops live. Intricate drum work from Mark Lilley shows no lack of skill and a dedication to keeping this train rolling. This is some circle pit shit that is thrown on its head with some excellent blasts.
The remaining tracks on what is Svalbard’s fourth album, run down the clock nicely. Pillar in the Sand experiments with a few more tones and textures that whilst aren’t identical to previous offerings, feel familiar. Spacious drums allow clean vocals to take the spotlight before a swift uptick of tension and release is given.
The closer, To Wilt Beneath The Weight is an appropriate Bookend to The Weight of the Mask. It has an all too comfortable feeling of underlying hopefulness tinged with inner turmoil. This is what Svalbard do best. You get to feel something when you listen to them. You get to experience their anguish whilst re-living some of your own. And you get to feel like you’re all going to make it through Soldier on in the Face of Fear.
Svalbard as a band has all the elements I appreciate in metal. Intelligent song structures, formidable musicianship, and memorable moments.
Compelling as the band is, The Weight of the Mask as an album and those particular memorable moments, are limited. Upon first listen it was an interesting offering, but I found by the halfway point that I was lost. Not in an ethereal realm, tangled in the woods so dark... no, unfortunately, it was just that every song mix was so identical, that the dynamics were so compressed that I could hardly tell head from tail.
I listened to this album multiple times, in multiple ways. headphones, earbuds, car speakers and Bluetooth speakers so I could hear it in a way a majority of punters would. And it felt the same upon every listen. Consistent. Which should rarely be a point to criticise. It being consistent to a degree of flatness is a shame.
I look forward to what Svalbard releases in the future. This beast has so much potential, and the addition of perhaps more organic elements might wake the giant that slumbers under the icy fjords, help to raise its fist and leave a trail of glorious chaos in its wake.
2.5/5
The Weight of the Mask is out October 6th via Nuclear Blast Records.
Pre Order via Bandcamp HERE
