Hearing the words, “it really makes me happy to see you guys here so early” is, frankly, a little weird coming from the frontman of Kvelertak, an international rock band booked to play a headlining club show.
The Rev – apparently usually a poxy nightclub – had to get these Norwegians out of the way early so they could bring on an act “as seen on the X-factor” (that is actually what the poster says) for the usual crowd in the evening, but boy do these Scandinavians make their presence known!
At 6pm, guitarist Vidar Landa emerges and begins the guitar line of new album opener ‘Åpenbaring’ before vocalist Erlend Hjelvik takes the stage shirtless with a stuffed owl perched on his head with menacing glowing eyes.
The band kick in, the owl remains and the crowd at the foot of the stage start the night’s first circle pit. It doesn’t take long for Hjelvik to get involved, launching himself into the crowd twice before the end of second track, ‘Spring Fra Livet’.
While the wild bearded frontman screams down the mic in his native tongue – occasionally offering it to audience members to scream what they think might, at least, sound like the lyrics – the five musicians behind him speak the language of grandstand riff architecture understood fluently by music fans the world over.
Kvelertak riffs stand astride rock and metal and the band are unlike anything else on the musical landscape at the moment: poly-rhythmicc guitar lines and blast beats, coupled with melodic choruses with of prog-rock sensibilities and the occasional addition of gang vocals. The lyrics may as well be gibberish to an Australian crowd but with the racket of three accomplished guitarists and a monstrous bass and drum tone, this music feels positively vital.
Particular highlights include the catchy while frantic latest single from Meir, ‘Bruane Brenn’, the monstrous bass-heavy groover ‘Mjød’ and crowd-favourite punk-metal fusion ‘Fossegrim’.
Towards the end the crowd are screaming for beerhall rocker, ‘Blodtørst’, and as the song kicks in Hjelvik disappears from the stage only reappearing headbanging on tables, knocking glasses to the floor and forcing himself on the nearby crowd to surf back to his band. The self-celebratory ‘Kvelertak’, follows with bassist Marvin Nygaard scaling a speaker stack to play out the finale, before ‘Utrydd Dei Svake’ closes out proceedings with a final energetic and positively dangerous looking circle pit.
As the band finally leave the stage after bumping fists and shaking hands with those at the front, we emerge into Brisbane’s early evening weekend buzz to begin the night on the town remonstrating on the virtues of black-metal infused Norwegian rock and how on Earth we are going to find anything like this locally until these guys tour again.
After playing some of Europe’s biggest festivals over the northern Summer often to in excess of 10,000 at a time, to come down to Australia to play a club show to little more than 100 people and put in an effort with that much energy and intensity is the sign of a band taking nothing for granted and leaving it all on the stage. I hope, for your sake, that you were at this show. It’s going to be a lot harder to see them from the stands at the RNA when they’re headlining Soundwave in a couple of years.
Setlist
Åpenbaring
Spring Fra Livet
Mjød
Fossegrim
Ulvetid
Bruane Brenn
Nekrokosmos
Sjøhyenar (Havets Herrer)
Evig Vandrar
Nekroskop
Månelyst
Offernatt
Blodtørst
Kvelertak
Utrydd Dei Svake
