Graceful Degradation

Feeling in the mood for something a bit heavier today, having spent a weekend a touch on the melancholic side but feeling a manic resurgence coming on (med changes, don't you just love 'em?), I opted to give Svölk's self-titled debut a spin. Excellent choice!

Hailing from Norway where they have spent their time honing their skills on the live circuit since their debut EP Beast back in 2005, Svölk have now released what they describe as the world's first Bear Metal album. I was slightly disappointed to realise this was not a reference to a sub-set of the gay scene (blame it on the meds) but instead relates to the wild and fierce elements of this world, in this case the deep forests of eastern Norway. And there's definitely something brutal in this album.

I'm not really sure how you would define Bear Metal overall, except that it is a bit of a mishmash of rock and metal genres. Opener 52, for example, starts with a kind of laid back Southern Rock twang before turning round and kicking your arse. It is, quite simply, a bloody good start. It's also probably the only real surprise on the album, purely because it's the one with the most dramatic style shift.

Otherwise, we're really looking at straightforward rock/metal for the most part, with elements of blues, a bit of doom, and definitely a homage to the best of the 80s metal masters, and Svölk really have the chops for it. If it wasn't for the fact that the neighbours really wouldn't appreciate it, I would turn up the volume and blast the street with Inferno, which is killer. End of Days has a heavier rhythm and makes more obvious use of the bass and drums than most of the tracks, which might be something they could do with looking at for future recordings.

Above all, I love the fact that this is a five piece. So many of the bands I've been listening to recently seem to be content just with the lead guitar, but for real depth you've just got to have the rhythm guitar in the mix as well - the harmonising and the occasional brief guitar duel really puts this a cut above.

So far today I've listened to this album four times and I'm not getting bored with it. And Svölk, in spite of producing some staggeringly good music, clearly don't take themselves too seriously either. Well, they describe themselves as Bear Metal for a start. In the end, I'm going to leave it to the words of their own press release to sum them up - lazy reviewing maybe, but I happen to agree with the sentiment: