Svalbard: A Light In An Ocean of Darkness
Whilst the UK’s metal scene will always be associated to the titans of old like BLACK SABBATH, IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST and the legion of bands that popularised down-tuned riffing in the latter years of the 20th century, recent years has seen a crop of bands that aren’t just living up to the standards our island nation has for heavy metal, but are pushing the genre to new and very exciting places. The metal scene of today is much more vibrant and colourful than it was decades prior, and it’s truly an exciting scene to be a part of. One such band lie at the epicentre of this resurging boom; Bristol-based SVALBARD.
Whilst 2015’s One Day This Will All End displayed glimmers of promise, it was 2018’s astonishingly good It’s Hard To Have Hope which kicked down the door and announced SVALBARD as one of the UK’s most exciting new heavy bands. A cross-pollination of black metal, hardcore and post-metal flourishes, a raw sense of ferocious urgency and grounded and hard-hitting anguish towards the issues plaguing humankind and modern society, SVALBARD had a lot to say and it did not go unnoticed. Two years have passed and that record has done so much good for the band, but for guitarist/vocalist Serena Cherry, as we sit down and begin to discuss album number three, When I Die, Will I Get Better?, we must ask, has Serena seen society improve or descend further in the abyss?
“I think a law was passed in regard to unpaid internships that banned them. I mean, it’s all very well and good having a law, but it depends if companies are still actually adhering to that or not. I still hear of a lot of companies doing unpaid internships and stuff. But I think, it’s definitely an issue that people are talking about more and people are uprising against more, which is definitely progress in my eyes. And to be fair, I’ve not heard the word feminazi for a good while! Like I used to get called it all the time, but it seems to have faded out of fashion that term, which is a great thing. So yeah, I think all change and progress is so slow, you don’t see it happening. You know, what I mean? Is you’re never gonna be like, bang! Oh, wow, that’s really noticeable.”
Whilst there is certainly progress towards some of the issues SVALBARD raged at two years ago, a cursory glance across the internet or flicking on any news channel would seem to indicate that the world is still just as fucked up as it was in 2018. And for the band, it is time to gear up and rage once more. Keen to not rest on their laurels, Cherry and co. have not loosened their ferocious grip and disdain towards the world today, When I Die, Will I Get Better? Is just as monstrous and hard-hitting as its predecessor. Whilst themes on wider societal issues are still explored here [“my favourite song on the album is Clickbait, which is about the way women are written about in certain metal publications”], their new opus is a much personal and deep dive into the mind of Serena Cherry.
“With the new album, my lyrical approach was completely different. I mean, there are some songs which are still about specific topics, you know, that could be filed under political, but a lot of it was really tinged with, like, mental health struggles that I was going through at the time,” Cherry explains when asked about the lyrical content of their new album. “It sounds really cliched, but they are more personal in the sense that I’m one of those people, I can’t hide what I’m feeling very well. And when I was really suffering with depression that tainted everything I did, it wasn’t just, you know, something I could push to the side to write some lyrics. It was very evident in every song.”
With the lyrical journey on When I Die, Will I Get Better? being such a more personal journey than a reflective commentary on society at large, it suddenly makes much more sense that the sonics of SVALBARD have evolved to reflect just that. There is still a hardcore underbelly to their heaviness, but album three sees the band evolve into something much melancholic and emotive, a post-metal album that croons and roars on equal measure.
In truth, When I Die, Will I Get Better? is SVALBARD‘s magnum opus, a statement of intent to show just how exceptionally talented they are, a reflection of the booming creativity within the UK scene. And yet, despite the strength of our scene, the band (and particularly Serena) have endured torrents of abuse in the virtual world; simply for daring to shout about what they believe in. And despite Serena being very much a battle-hardened veteran in the arena of social media and comment threads, she does admit, she is growing weary towards arguing with trolls online. “I’m always tired of being that kind of outspoken spokesperson for these issues, especially when I get so much shit back on the internet. I think it’s changed my representation of myself on social media. So I used to write a lot of opinion, editorials about being a woman in metal and with so much abuse, I had to change who I was to stop getting abuse, which is crazy! What I was doing was trying to speak out about justice, but you know, people don’t want it. There’s only so much of it you can take and it’s really easy, I think, to sit there and just go “oh, well, you know, it’s just some guy sat behind a computer on the internet, it doesn’t matter”. But if you’re an anxious person, or if you do have low self-esteem, other people confirming that telling you you’re a shit guitarist and telling you you’re rubbish is too much. So I just, sadly, backed away a little bit, backed off a bit. And now I only write articles about METALLICA sucking!”
Whilst online communities continue to be toxic vacuums of vile hatred, where people continue to put anyone down for daring to speak up about issues they believe in, in reality, Serena can rest assured about the strength of SVALBARD‘s position in the current scene. Sure, live shows are on hold for the foreseeable future due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but, armed with their career best in When I Die, Will I Get Better?, SVALBARD have the world at their feet. And judging from the passion and enthusiasm Serena displays in our hour long conversation about the album, the band and the world at large, she and her bandmates deserve every ounce of success.
When I Die, Will I Get Better? is out now via Church Road Records.
Like SVALBARD on Facebook.
