The Swedish band Vanhävd stood out four years ago with the ep Låt köttet dö in which they exhibited a black doom of great originality combined with unconventional themes. Their first full length Vila, in its overall development that goes to the duration of an hour, includes the three tracks included in the ep (Låt köttet dö, Om den vulgära farsens nonsens and Drömmaren) to which are added as many unreleased plus two fragments of ambient nature, while maintaining intact both a certain stylistic coherence, and the conceptual inspiration always coming from the works of the Norwegian antinatalist philosopher Peter Wessel Zapffe, this time integrated by those of the American horror writer Thomas Ligotti. Vila is an album that fully confirms the positive impressions provided by the previous ep, with a sound always incisive and iridescent, able to move fluidly from extreme pulsions to melodic openings without giving up passages from experimental and alternative traits. The remarkable and very long final track Maskhål plays the role of possible summa in this sense, moving from the poignant doom initial to a black metal contaminated by a bass line typically post-punk and then flow into a dark ambient, before restarting a second time the cycle. Difficult to describe but very rewarding to listen to, Vila appropriately brings again to attention a stimulating reality with enormous potential like Vanhävd.

2022 – Dead Seed Productions