Vanhelga – Längtan (2014)

Deconstructing Black Metal into its rawest elements seems to be the task of Vanhelga since its inception. With “Längtan” the band continues its journey into the deepest and darkest corners of musical exploration with 12 terrifying tracks of pure misanthropy and bleakness. Gaining a few members along the way, 145188 brings his vision to life with a truly sickening sound that is quite raw and direct.

Opening with the twisted melodies of “Svartsint ömhet” we get an assortment of deranged vocals laid over truly haunting simplistic music that will instantly get under your skin. Focusing on an eerie atmosphere, “Där evigheten inväntar mig” is one of our favorite tracks thanks to its raw power and bizarre tempo changes. The band’s ability to switch the direction of the song mid-course it’s one of the best assets that Vanhelga has in this release, making for a truly unique and abusive experience as heard in tracks like “Evig förändring” and the melancholic “Med mina andetag”.

The only outfit that closely matches we “Längtan” delivers is the non-defunct Lifelover, a band that a few of the members of Vanhelga used to be associated with. Seamlessly changing between sickening violent parks to atmospheric passages, “Narkotisk uppgivenhet” is one of the weirdest tracks in this release. The simple yet dissonant distortion in this release works wonderful to give that raw sense of urgency to this excellent release.

With each song continuing the free-fall into Vanhelga’s demented world, the listener will immerse its psyche into this emotionally charged music since the first track. If you like completely weird and emotionally raw music, then “Längtan” is an album that you should add to your collection. The band’s unique music deserves to be heard and with this release they make a pretty good case for it.

Label: Art of Propaganda

Release: April 28th, 2014

Genre: Black Metal / Atmospheric/Depressive Rock

Country: Sweden