I’ve never been too shy about my love for these Norwegians. Aside from leaving their absolutely tough self-titled debut in my regular rotation for nearly three years now, I was lucky to catch them twice in a single month last year during their tour with Converge and Torche—and subsequently clog Twitter with effusive ravings over both their thick wall of sound and out-and-out mission to simply fucking rock, regardless of a crowd’s listlessness.
Having kept close tabs on the progress of their new album, Meir—which they recorded at GodCity with Kurt Ballou because of course they did—I knew it was getting to be high time for a song to finally leak. And, praise your God, “Bruane Brenn” did last week. Definitely heavier on the black ‘n’ roll hooks than its predecessors, the track is built around a melodic chorus that features the all-Norwegian lyrics following a poppy (in a very evil way, natch) guitar lick. And if that alone isn’t enough of a weird diversion, there’s also a kind of jarringly strange classic-rock breakdown smack in the middle of the song. But none of the band’s new flourishes and polishes matter, not one bit. Kvelertak is still as crushingly heavy and rock ‘n’ roll as ever. Meir will be released stateside by Roadrunner—news that was announced just four days ago—on March 26.
