ALBUM REVIEW: Anti – White Void

It goes without saying that just because a musician is known for a particular genre, it doesn’t mean that they religiously listen to that style of music or exclusively play it. Lars Nedland, who people may recognise from Norwegian outfits BORKNAGAR and SOLEFALD, is one such person. Throwing off his usual guises of folk and post-black metal, he’s recruited Tobias Solbakk from ISHAHN on drums, electronica stalwart Vegard Kummen on bass and blues guitarist Elvin Marum to form WHITE VOID and debut album Anti emerges via Nuclear Blast Records.

The record centres around the concept of Absurdism, conceived by French philosopher Albert Camus, and even from the album title itself this is evident; Anti? Anti what, exactly? If you think that things are going to make more sense as the album progresses, this might not be for you. This is a multi-layered affair with a number of things going on, sometimes within the same track, but the running theme throughout is a gloomy, almost reluctance sense of acceptance that the world around us is never going to make complete sense and we should embrace the weird and wonderful that is experienced; quite appropriately, exactly what Camus set out to achieve. This contrast is seen no clearer than in the nihilistic Where You Go, You’ll Bring Nothing, a nice, doom-laden riff clashing with the somewhat jovial delivery of the line ‘When you crack it open, it falls apart; when you open it up, it just breaks your heart’ – not just said in a more playful manner, but not exactly the easiest of lyrics to wrap one’s head around, either.

Stylistically, this certainly a world away from what Nedland is used to performing in; on the surface is a throwback to the driving hard rock of the 1970’s, tinged with 80’s keyboards and synths, although it’s certainly far less bouncy and upbeat than anything you’d usually see from that decade. Even The Shovel and the Cross, which brings in a hefty influence from GHOST, isn’t as entrenched in cabaret as the Swedish spookmeisters, instead maintaining the downtrodden overtures that follow into the snappy This Apocalypse Is For You, which brings the pace up a notch or too but won’t raise any spirits. The longest numbers – The Fucking Violence of Love and The Air Was Thick with Smoke – are reserved for the end of the record and, in true absurdism manner, Solbakk playing the drums with more vigour ensures the songs go much quicker than some of the others. ‘In reality, we come to the same conclusion’ Nedland sings on the former, with the mournful air of someone accepting he’ll never understand this planet. The latter begins with, surprisingly, some bigger synth hooks and a catchy chorus, a nice detour from what has been before, however the drop into the 80’s gothic groove that had been so prevalent prior isn’t far behind the excellent Marum solo in the middle.

If you appreciate an album to contemplate, with lots to discover and a different area coming to the fore with each listen, then WHITE VOID have done a sterling job on this debut release. Whether or not there is more to come depends on Nedland‘s other commitments, but it would be a darned shame if this was the only one.

Rating: 7/10

Anti is set for release March 12th via Nuclear Blast Records. 

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