Dan Hillier
Such a relation is to be expected of course. It’s in these challenging times – ages rampant with strife, anxiety and misery – that we get a true picture of the condition of the human race. The collection of unique complexities and nuances that compose us collectively become strikingly apparent, and for all intents and purposes, the guise that we as a species wear to help repress the fact that we are merely terrified pack animals banding together begins to slip. It’s this realisation that serves as the crux of the new EP from Blodet.
A band deep-rooted in subtle physiology and obvious esotericism, the Sweden sextet have already developed a musical palette for themselves, one composed of doom, post-rock and a touch of folk that carries a pagan flair. Vision, the group’s latest body of work and their first with Hilda Heller fronting the troupe, showcases this musical entanglement wonderfully, and whilst genre tags such as doom and post-rock may conjure thoughts of a release sonically punishing, such heft manifests thematically on this release. Opener and previously released single ‘The River’ instantly establishes such an aura. Summoning an enshrouding atmosphere of both ominous and threatening – one headily comparable to the manifestation courtesy of A.A Williams, Chelsea Wolfe and Marriages – the track creeps in broodingly prior to shifting across it’s run time with a subdued sense of doom and foreboding.
However, whilst such stated comparisons resonate a sense of asphalt coloured unease so to speak, this record’s overarching aura feels more tribalistic, ancient and feral. ‘She Remains’ does carry a more metropolitan drawl, but with this EP the band feel like as if they’re outside the now collapsing grind of society and are documenting their perception of the struggle of the human condition from a safe distance from the wilds. There’s a profound sense of ritualistic magic in this release, but not one that’s often amplified by stereotactically and cliched sensibilities. Instead, Blodet strengthen such potency via a fantastic understanding of negative space, exquisite contrasting tones and expansiveness.
The record’s title track demonstrates such an awareness brilliantly. Easily the record’s most interesting and stirring offering, the fifteen minute long composition burns into being slowly with minimalistic instrumentalism that crafts an air of suspense that’s far more potent than the meagre sum of it’s parts. Through it’s creeping, granulating strings a deeply meditative ambience takes form almost palatably, and whilst the whilst the payoff and crescendo is expected, the eruption of classic post-hardcore that follows is immensely powerful. As Heller repeats the vocal refrain of “What do you see? Do you see me?” in a manner most possessing and cerebral, it’s essentially nigh on impossible not to be drawn into the otherworldly and cold realms in which Blodet serenade from. It almost feels like an invitation, one to leave the complexities of our failing society behind and join them in the ancient lands they reside within.
Whilst Vision as a whole may ultimately be a short outing, Blodet conjure an atmosphere that’s dense and yet delicate. Not only is this EP is a fantastic exercise in amalgamating genres whilst retaining a form of subtleness, it’s a record that perfectly understands that sometimes less is certainly more. The band may inhabit an alcove that’s becoming increasingly populated with urban bands creating music that transcends location, but this EP shows that Blodet are separated from their complementaries when it comes to authentically articulating their soundscapes with seemingly effortless ease.