Allt: This Is Us
For any artist, no matter in which genre of music, the second album they release is arguably one of, if not the most important release. It is the record that could be known as the definitive release in terms of how this artist or band sounds like, and for ALLT, the Swedish metalcore upstarts, this second album of theirs, which they titled Ataraxia, is all about evolution and showcasing their musical abilities as impressively as they can, gaining the band as much momentum as possible.
For ALLT, there have been quite a few differences between the process of writing their debut record, and their second one. This comes down to being a more cohesive group of people behind the scenes as guitarist Olle Nordström believes. “The songwriting process for this album was in a way, more collaborative, and also in a way more just going with the flow instead of overthinking and over-analysing everything. It was very much writing what felt good in the moment, and allowing ourselves to write what we wanted to, and following the songs in where they wanted to go.”
Despite the fact that Ataraxia is not a concept album, an album still has to tell a journey, and still has different elements and themes to create the overall vibe to the imagery and sound of the album as a whole, and in this case, there are overarching elements the band want to focus on. “There are definitely themes and overarching stories, but this is way more about anthology where the last album is just a pure concept anthem about the fall of civilisation straight up. This one is way more anthology of stories, from us as people, things we have went through growing up or growing as people,” Nordström says at this point, that this record was designed and written to make the five-piece as relatable, and mundane as possible. “It was way more removing all of the filters, all of the barriers and pouring our personal experiences. Maturing I would say, and coming to terms with the things that we have as people, and in life, and really putting that down on paper without any sort of barrier or concept.” Nordström concludes by saying that in a way, this listening experience is almost healing in a way. “It’s about our personal journeys towards finding peace in life.”
Continuing on about this idea of finding peace, Nordström tells Distorted Sound each song has an element of this concept. “Every song has an aspect of that, and not all of them are about finding peace. I wouldn’t say one singular song is about finding peace, it’s more process.” At this point, one specific song is mentioned. “Omerta, the latest single we released is about seeking conflict, and getting a rush out of seeking conflict. If you want to peace in your life, that is a behaviour you have to kick.”
It is natural, to assume that spreading both positivity and darker, more intimate moments is a good balance to have, but for ALLT, with 2024’s debut concept album From The New World being as dark as it is, this may have been harder to pull of, but in the future, the band seem to be much more keen to continue on with spreading hope, and ideas of hope. “We’ve started writing the third album already, and I think for us it’s important to have this optimism in our vocabulary to become better as writers and also to develop as people.” Personally though, Nordström says that if he will just focus on negative topics for his music, that will affect his overall outlook on life. “To me, if I’m constantly writing about the deepest darkest things, that will impact how I go about life. “If I want to make the world a better place, then I think it’s good to have optimism in your vocabulary as a songwriter.” Going back to focus on the music aspect, he is very proud of the place the band is in, in terms of optimism. “I can’t say for sure what new music will sound like or what the themes will be, but I’m just happy that we got to the point as songwriters, all of us, where we felt comfortable sharing optimism.”
With Ataraxia, the Swedish metalcore group not only have tools to create an engaging, dynamic setlist, but they have also improved as musicians and songwriters thanks to their use of dynamics on this album. With the previous album we wanted to kind of show everyone what we were capable of as songwriters. we just really wanted to take every tool we had in our disposal to create the most extreme and inventive album we possibly could. For this one it was different. What if we write with restraint? We served the songs instead.” At this point, Nordström praises frontman Robin Malmgren and his vocal improvement. “As Robin has developed his vocals, it became evident that if we really want to showcase how good he has become, we need to tone down the more extreme instrumentals here, to really make space for what we want to do vocally. Because this is a very vocal driven album.” Before concluding by saying, “it’s not like we have forgotten how to write insane shit, it’s more like ok, how can we create the best form of this idea?”
Those who want to experience this dynamic journey can rejoice, as the band are heading out on tour once more this winter, with dates in Nottingham and London, before heading out to Europe in support of their second studio album Ataraxia.
Ataraxia is out now via Century Media Records. View this interview, alongside dozens of other killer bands, in glorious print magazine fashion in DS131 here.
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