ALBUM REVIEW: Sult – Kollapse

It’s been a few years since KOLLAPSE brought their debut Angst back in 2018. In the time that has elapsed the line up has reduced down to three, and the band have dealt with some heavy subject matter. Given the sudden onset of the pandemic, that sense of isolation and grief only intensified. Now KOLLAPSE return with their latest record Sult, an existential look at life through a post-metal lens.

Off to a bold start, Drift is a stripped back, doom-led tune. Soaring, slow dread rises with the ambience, as the drums come into their own, a veritable storm of sound carries you away. In its quieter moments, the tension never ebbs, but there’s a lulled sense of something even heavier coming up. It’s a solid, in your face sound, with simple motifs that are hypnotic while a tumbling, crashing rhythm canters it all.

With almost an immediate run into Knæler, the record takes a more freeform style here. Things are more frenetic, more jarring. From high velocity chaos into a sudden valley of space and back again, it’s a tumbling, swirling momentous track that enjoys playing with your expectations. The repetition can be a little tiresome after the three minute mark, however things do make a continuous change from that point out, creeping into ever more biting, sinister places until the whole track is completely unrecognisable.

Drukner takes a more subdued path, a welcome let up from the crazed energy of the start of Sult. A quiet, lulling melody takes a pleasant meander on clean strings, a tempered high hat tap keeping things steady. Rising into a much more monumental beast, having the dynamic breath of the intro to ease you in is a nice change and shows the guys still have plenty of musicality between the three of them. Its big, meaty centre is where the real treat is, a sludgy, doomy riff that takes unexpected paths into some unusual, mind bending melodies.

There’s an air of MASTODON in the open string intro of Byrd, but it’s stark and swinging edge are all KOLLAPSE. The elements of noise rock are fully on show here, as the chug and the abstract ideas all meld into a hot, heavy mixture of relentless guitars and constant, battering drums.

Likewise, there’s just as much untidy fun to be had with Libido. Sinking into the smack and thump of the main melody, there’s musicality a plenty while maintaining a sense of urgency and disorder. It’s a huge sounding tune with great elements of post rock that layer over the doom underbelly of the whole piece. It’s a really strong effort so late in the record.

The finale of the album is Der Hvor Jeg Tænker Er Der Altid Mørkt, which starts in a more wistful and dreamlike place than anything else on this record. It’s got subtleties to the dynamics and melodic changes that continue to keep your ear trained on what’s going on while you bask in its gentler touch. The brief moment is only that though, a moment, and the surge of disjointed and intentionally unsettling progressions envelope like a bad dream. It’s the most fragmented and strikingly opposed track on this record, and all the bolder for it. You’re never too sure where you’ll be taken on this final outing, from oddly psychedelic post rock to screaming, yelping doom to its unknowable ending minutes. It’s a jumble and a sensory overload that really wants you to pay attention.

Sult feels very much a product of the specific time it was produced, an interpretation of the way we all looked at hard, empirical events of last year. It’s personal and complicated, being both chaotic and urgent, while lulling into moments of clarity and tranquillity. The universal sensitivity of it all makes a lasting impact. KOLLAPSE have done a deft job at compiling those emotions into this record.

Rating: 8/10

Sult is out now via Fysisk Format.

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