Humanity’s Last Breath: The Creation Of An Empire
“I think it’s just my own personal expression when it comes to music and it comes across in a certain way. I have a marriage to those type of feelings for some reason – and no one else. It is really hard to write a happy song that provokes that same visceral reaction from a human – which they get when you’re writing super horrible stuff. Music which really does something to someone and stirs something within them when they listen to it. And that is the type of music that I am drawn to.” Darker. Bleaker. A fully renewed and expanded sense of atmosphere. The latter of which evokes this unmistakable vastness – whilst the lurking dissonance wraps the listener into a tight, claustrophobic embrace. The time is now for the next chapter in HUMANITY’S LAST BREATH’s journey – and they’re turning the page in truly apocalyptic fashion.
Speaking to Distorted Sound from his home in Stockholm, one-man mixing machine, producer and songwriter Buster Odeholm is a man who dons many proverbial hats. As well as being the driving force behind these Swedish black death juggernauts, he is also one half of the thall-tastic VILDHJARTA with fellow HUMANITY’S LAST BREATH bandmate Calle Thomer. Today however, we are only here to talk all things HLB; and more specifically album number three. Ladies and gentlemen – this is Välde.
The absolutely monstrous follow-up to 2019’s Abyssal, this is a record that pulverises the senses at every synapse altering twist and turn. Almost uncomfortably bleak at times and echoing the likes of MESHUGGAH and ULVER, influences are drawn and combine in truly symbiotic fashion, with HUMANITY’S LAST BREATH‘s signature blackened groove template being ever present and correct. Lead single Earthless erupts like Krakatoa; a feral explosion of down-tuned noise and aggression with a main riff that has delighted the hordes since it first rattled the pages of social media outlets back in 2018. Recognising a good thing when he saw it and concluding that the people had spoken, it was a no-brainer for Buster et al to choose this track as a filthy taster of what was yet to come.
With song titles such as Glutton, Dehumanize and Futility, there’s an immediate sense that you’re listening to a band with something to say via their music. And with modern-day issues such as political tensions, climate change and racial discontent, there’s certainly enough to inspire a social commentary. “When you’re living on this Earth, shit just seems so horrible most of the time so there’s always stuff to say,” Buster muses thoughtfully. “When you watch the news and you see and hear the way we are going as the human race – it’s kinda like ‘yeah this is definitely not positive’. If I’m on a podcast or just walking on the street and see something, I can suddenly just get a sentence in my head. And if that resonates with me, I always feel like I want to express that via music. That’s where a lot of these song titles come from.”
As mentioned previously, the core elements of HUMANITY’S LAST BREATH‘s sound remain present and correct. The low-end bowel-shaking rumbles, those technical intricacies. And of course, the signature blackened grooves for which the band have become renowned for. That said however, there’s a lot more going on this time around. intricacies. Could it be argued that Välde is representative of you guys pushing the boundaries of your established sound further than ever before?
“Oh wow. That’s actually a hard one to answer!” Buster chuckles as he trails off momentarily. “For me it’s just kind of the experience of working with a lot of other bands. I mix and master for many and find my inspiration from different parts of this genre and others. It has all just sort of accumulated into what this album’s become. It definitely has the signature HUMANITY’S LAST BREATH stuff but the main thing, I felt, with the last album was it might have gone too death and black metal and alienated the fanbase a bit. I wanted to bring back that technical edge a bit more and those groove elements that you’ve referred to. When I wrote the last album [Abyssal] I was like these grooves just sound too happy. Groove to me is like bringing people together and having a good time and headbangjng and partying. And that’s not what HLB is about. It’s more about being oppressive with the music so that’s why I strayed away. So, on Välde, I tried to bring that template back – but also make it oppressive at the same time.”
As our conversation draws to a close and the release date looms ever closer, there’s just enough time to ask this self-referenced “typical awkward Swede” what he’d like fans – both old and brand new – to take away from Välde. And whilst his answer is certainly simple enough, there is absolutely nothing simple nor generic about this album. May your flayed faces and shattered souls rest in peace.
“If they like it share it! I’m very bad at this kind of stuff as you can probably tell. I’m just being a typical awkward Swede. If the person listening feels like they want or need to experience or express any horrible feelings, then they might want to listen to HUMANITY’S LAST BREATH – and I hope they can rid themselves of those negative feelings when they do. My music is not meant for purpose – it’s just what I do. Because I have to.”
Välde is out now via Unique Leader Records.
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