Progressive-punk. These are two words that sit extremely uneasily together. In fact, they’re very much at odds with each other. In fact, it almost seems an oxymoron. Is there even such a genre? It’s certainly not a term you hear very frequently. Or at all. But this crazy Norwegian six piece, Kvelertak, seem to have pulled it off big time, and possibly coined a phrase in the meantime.
The underlying tone and vibe of Kvelertak is very much that of traditional hardcore punk. Indeed, the guitars and vocals across this self-titled effort are eardrum-shreddingly anarchic, exactly the way they ought to be in punk music. But Kvelertak go off on so many weird musical tangents that it almost seems an insult to call them merely a ‘punk’ band. At times they sound like a ‘70s space rock act, while at other times you can hear a distinctly metal influence creeping through (not surprising considering they’re from Scandinavia). Elsewhere the music sometimes simply devolves into straight-up and down rock ‘n’ roll. There’s acoustic, almost folky/country-esque interludes here and there (check out the outtro of closer Utrydd Delskvake). They even do a slightly warped
instrumental version of Jimi Hendrix’s Foxy Lady. It’s a real trip.
What makes it even more interesting is that almost all of the song titles and lyrics are in their native tongue. Which is Norwegian, for those not paying attention. It’s been done before (see Rammstein and their predilection for their native German, for example), but it happens very rarely and it’s still a gutsy move for a band who are looking to crack English-speaking markets. They’re doing so, however, by staying true to who and what they are.
They are in such command of their art that it’s hard to believe Kvelertak have only been around for a few years, and that this is their debut album. It’s fantastic to see a punk band actually give the genre a good, hard kick up the arse and take music to very different places than it’s ‘supposed’ to go. Open minded punk, hardcore and even metal fans ought to love this. And well they should.
