Kvelertak’s self-titled 2010 album was one of the most intriguing debuts of recent years, an intoxicating meld of hardcore punk fury, classic rock grooves and blackened underground metal that garnered breathless reviews from critics and fellow musicians alike.
And, as telegraphed by its title – Meir translates from the band’s native Norwegian as ‘More’ – album number two from the Stavanger sextet is bigger, bolder and broader in its sweep and scale.
At their most accessible, Kvelertak recall an unholy alliance of Baroness, Thin Lizzy and Queens Of The Stone Age jamming in a Deep South shebeen, but it’s when they spread their wings and give free reign to guitarists Vidar Landa, Bjarte Lund Rolland and Maciek Ofstad, as on the relentless motorik grind of Tordenbrak or the spacey Nekrokosmos, that they’re at their most thrillingly captivating. Their journey from here should prove fascinating.
