ALBUM REVIEW: It’s Hard To Have Hope – Svalbard

Dystopic and bleak. Abysses and blackholes. The obliteration of the senses and the juxtaposition of chaotic catharsis. Descriptions of a world you’d assume first and foremostly comes from the depths of a science-fiction novel or a big-budget disaster movie, and yet, for Bristol’s SVALBARD, it is the living, breathing world around them that infuses their post-metal via way of European blackgaze with the disturbingly uncomfortable feeling that you’re head is being pummelled into pieces until the message they’re passing is picked up and understood.

SVALBARD‘s sophomore effort It’s Hard To Have Hope expands on as much as it detaches itself from their 2015 debut One Day All This Will End in the sense that it continues to merge their post-metal influences with the emerging European blackgaze scene, whilst simultaneously sounding as if the mathcore of ROLO TOMASSI were to jump into bed with CONVERGE’s Kurt Ballou and raise an illegitimate lovechild.

More so, whereas their debut was an introverted interrogation of the human mind and its complexities, It’s Hard To Have Hope dissects the cause of the trauma, acting as an outward-aiming monologue of monolithic proportions. The self-despair that sugar-coated their music has transformed into outrageous animosity towards the world, tackling topics as uncomfortable as sexual harassment, revenge porn, and the exploitation of the younger generation. From the blast-beat crunch of siren-calling opener Unpaid Intern, dual-vocalists Serena Cherry and Liam Phelan deliver a devastating performance that pulverises the terrain they create. Hypnotising kaleidoscopic riffs juxtapose a blackened-hardcore rhythm section, the melding of post-hardcore to blackgaze adding an urgency to SVALBARD‘s approach.

Feminazi?!’s post-metal hardcore explodes out of the gate, bringing the senses to a mess as you begin to comprehend the unfortunate realism of the message: it is uncomfortable to admit, but the harassment of woman and the disdain we place on solving those problems and allowing woman to come forth is a serious problem. The urgency, the angst, the pounding of the drums that imprints into your brain; it runs through It’s Hard To Have Hope‘s eight tracks leaving you dishevelled and disheartened yet utterly inspired to rise up and make the world listen. It is the cathartic comedown of instrumental closer Iorek that washes away the marks of brutality left by its predecessor Try Not To Die Until Your Dead,bringing your brain and your heartrate back to normal, leaving you alone with your thoughts.

Continuing what is possibly a standout year for Holy Roar Records, SVALBARD have cultivated the potential they displayed on their debut and with It’s Hard To Have Hope,have found their footing as one of the UK’s most vital bands through the creation of beautifully cathartic yet disgustingly heavy music that packs a message like a punch so hard you’re hit into next year.

Rating: 10/10

It’s Hard To Have Hope is set for release on May 25th via Holy Roar Records.

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