Sometimes, there’s an album that takes hold of you from the very first playthrough. It could be an album you have been waiting to hear, or something that is just so massively powerful that you try to imagine “what could top this?”. Vattnet Viskar’s Sky Swallower is one of those albums that encapsulates the very essence of this; an album completely large in scale and magnitude.
Right from the opening growl, Sky Swallower kicks the listener in the teeth with “New Alchemy”. The first song is monumentally large, with monolithic riffing giving way to high rising tremolos. The sound spreads its wings and takes off, spanning the track with great bludgeoning force. And then, when Vattnet Viskar breaks that mold, all becomes still and they opt to groove out an easy, free flowing drum pattern smack in the middle of the track, with sparse fills and one note guitar patterns. The band, slowing things down to almost a crawl, lets the heaviness rush in again, like a giant wave, crashing onto the beach with its mighty weight, the swell foaming at its maw, and with that raw intensity exists the sound of something elegant and destructive.
When the next track begins, Vattnet Viskar exists in a brilliant calm like slow moving water in a brook. “Fog of Apathy” showcases the true expansive ability of these black metallers. With this atmospheric world they have created they shed all the aggression that has built up from “New Alchemy”, and in doing so they have crafted two minutes of pure bliss; an expression of life and of living. And even though what comes next is the noise which the New Hampshire outfit is known for, it doesn’t feel out of place. The guitars belt out their own war cries; slow, foreboding riffs that have serious bite to them.
“Breath of the Almighty” brings the aura of traditional black metal: cold and unforgiving, the track gallops at a fast pace with extreme riffing, while mixing in the flavor of American black metal. Post-rock sentiments overlay the middle of the track. They exist not as filler but to create a gigantic atmosphere, one that feels somber and depressive. These moments blend seamlessly together, like pieces of a puzzle being put together, finally forming the whole picture. Blast beats pepper the final moments of the track, and coupled with the tight riffing and low, wicked vocals, this build-up that the band has crafted comes to fruition.
All of the tracks on Sky Swallower go hand in hand. Nothing ever feels “out of place”; all have their shining moments of black metal goodness. Sometimes, the interludes feel a little too long — these build-ups last a few minutes, but more often than not Vattnet Viskar punches back in at the right time. “Mythos” is a deluge of heaviness; a relentless barrage of guitars rain down, backed by intense double bass and blast beats. Nicholas Thornbur’s vocals are chilling… dark growls from the depths of Hell.
Combining elements of doom, traditional black metal, and post-rock is what makes Sky Swallower an interesting album. What makes it great is the ability of the band to transcend black metal and infuse new life into it. Vattnet Viskar have taken the reins on a genre and contorted it, becoming a top echelon act. Of course, this album isn’t perfect; there are some hiccups along the way. But that doesn’t detract from how epic Sky Swallower is, one that requires the attention it most certainly deserves.
9/10
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