| When you hear the modern-day Norwegian sextet Kvelertak ("stranglehold"), it's obvious that they're aiming for the same middle lane as their proto-thrash predecessors. But Kvelertak also embrace the let-the-good-times-roll side of metal as well. (For the record, the band describes itself first and foremost as "rock and roll.") And even though frontman Erlend Hjelvik sings entirely in Norwegian, Kvelertak's third album Nattesferd is so thoroughly crammed with fist-pumping hooks it's easy to get the impression that he's singing about heading out to the highway the whole time. He isn't, but on the first song alone the band manages to marry blast beats to the anthemic power of Van Halen, Dokken, and Judas Priest. Nattesferd actually covers a lot more ground than Kvelertak's '80s ancestors did, but elements that might otherwise oppose one another blend into the experience seamlessly. Kvelertak's fellow revivalists (the Hellacopters, Bonded By Blood, The Sword, and pretty much any Sabbath-mimicking fuzz-rock band) can be so adamant about faithful replication that listening to them can feel suffocating. By contrast, the overwhelming feeling that comes across with Nattesferd is one of freedom to explore. "Svartmesse," for example, begins with a reverbed, single-string choka-choka-choka guitar line that's initially reminiscent of the Lick It Up-era KISS tune "Exciter" until the song veers into a quintessential New Wave Of British Heavy Metal-style verse. It's hard to imagine such a move in anyone else's hands not falling into either complete camp or embarrassing over-earnestness. In this case, it's fun without making you laugh at-or even *with-*the band. |
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