ALBUM REVIEW: Post People – Heave Blood & Die

There’s always something special about a band who don’t fit nicely into any one box. Norway’s HEAVE BLOOD & DIE are no exception. Their third album, Post People, draws influence from genres as varied as alternative, post-punk, psychedelic rock, and industrial and post-metal. It’s an ambitious, experimental record, with the band pointing to the likes of JESU and KILLING JOKE for comparison. Both of those are good starting points, but, as the wide range of genres at play might suggest, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Thematically, Post People is a profoundly anti-capitalist and environmentalist record. Informed by the band’s own close affinity to nature, it makes for an often fiery critique of the current state of the world. HEAVE BLOOD & DIE argue that “The have had is more dangerous than the never had. A new dawn is rising, and the possible outcome is terrifying.” The intense subject matter is a good fit with the band’s music, but the record isn’t as bleak as one might expect. Post People features plenty of moments of genuine melodic beauty, and is even quite delicate at points. These, juxtaposed with the band’s heavier, noisier, and even nastier tendencies, make for a dynamic and fascinating listen.

The album kicks off with its driving lead single, Radio Silence. It’s a massive opener, with an intense relentless rhythm that runs through the entire track. Sitar-esque synths add a grand, eastern feel here and there, while vocalist Karl Løftingsmo Pedersen shouts a fierce mantra of “Western media kills with radio silence.” After this, the band flow straight into second track Kawanishi Aeroplane – a significantly mellower offering. With warm melodic guitar parts and far softer, more ethereal vocals from Pedersen, it makes for quite a beautiful piece. At points, and not for the only time on Post People, it even evokes the likes of RADIOHEAD at their more delicate. There is still the odd touch of menace which pokes through too though, namely in the song’s short choruses. Back to back, these two tracks make for an exciting opening, and the quality doesn’t drop from there.

As promised, the band make a mockery out of any attempts to pigeonhole them into any one genre as the album goes on. Third track Metropolitan Jam is the kind of dystopian psychedelic offering KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD would be proud of. So is the album’s sixth track Continental Drifting. Elsewhere, True Believer sounds like a swaggering, more riff-heavy version of DEPECHE MODE. This one ends on a particular high with a lengthy, psych-tinged jam full of massive synths. Everything Is Now which follows is an abrasive, industrial stomper, and easily as dour as the album gets.

With so much going on, it would be easy for Post People to feel like a bit of a mess. Indeed, if you played someone Kawanishi Aeroplane and Everything Is Now back to back they’d probably have a hard time believing it was the same band. Sometimes you could even say that about parts of the same track. ‘Messy’ isn’t the word here though. Instead, HEAVE BLOOD & DIE do a great job of making Post People feel like a cohesive work. All the songs flow into each other smoothly, and there’s a real sense that the record goes on a journey.

It helps as well that Post People is of a high standard throughout, so much so that it’s tough to pick out highlights. The opening two tracks both have a shout, as does True Believer. The record also ends on a pair of blinders. Seventh track Geometrical Shapes features a gradually building intro so uplifting and melodic that you’ll probably forget you’re listening to a band called HEAVE BLOOD & DIE. Comparisons to THE CURE are inescapable here, and the song’s 5/4 time injects the whole thing with a driving urgency. Just over halfway through, the band return to darker territory for a noisy and hypnotic post-metal jam. This eventually gives the way to the album’s final and title track. It‘s an excellent closer, starting out with mellow, dreamy verses which build to a fittingly resounding and triumphant finale.

Post People is a mesmerising album from start to finish. Its 35-minute runtime passes by in a flash, and not a second is wasted. Listening back to their previous releases, it’s clear HEAVE BLOOD & DIE have greatly expanded their horizons on this record. Over the course of its eight tracks, they bring to mind some of the very best names from across a frankly staggering spectrum of alternative music. That alone should have a lot of people interested, but the fact that the band often get within touching distance of these names is even more impressive. 

Rating: 9/10

Post People is set for release on February 5th via Fysisk Format. 

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