Gather around for aural cleansing: the rumbling introductory notes on AR are likely to dislodge some earwax, and maybe a few jammed-up neurons too. Hailing from Denmark, Kollapse bring a tumultuous blend of sludge, post-metal, and noise rock that’s painstakingly minimalist even as it levels listeners’ entire foundations. Despite my previous remark, the album is less about shaking up physical defenses as it is digging into the soft emotional earth below.
Most of the record is — in the band’s own words — ‘angular,’ sharp-edged granite structures full of rigorous, punchy riffs, but there are notable exceptions: the clattering, open-ended chaos of “Dekomposition” and the gentle, slow piano outro of “Kokon” show that Kollapse can be just as unsettlingly disruptive without leaning on their strengths. The closing track “Transformation” expands on this, building up brittle clean guitar leads before ultimately smashing them against the rocks of their abrasive core sound. That core sound is pure, blissful collision, and it’s hard to get enough of it: tight grooves heavy on crunchy bass and front-of-the-mix drums where the cymbals are almost nonexistent compared to the shells. It’s all thwack and thump, in other words, and the sparing delivery lets the moments where Kollapse looses every bolt in their arsenal (or none at all) pierce right through the heart.
We’re streaming the album here in full before it drops Friday, and to help guide listening, the band has also provided a track-by-track guide to the album — though as they put it, it’s really more of a starting point than an answer.
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AR – Track-by-Track Rundown:
We believe in subjectivity and that art cannot be objective.
Therefore, it would make no sense to anyone to try and explain these songs in depth to listeners and those interested.
Art is personal and has the ability to connect and transcend, so consider this an invitation rather than anything resembling answers for anything at all.
The following is a short description of the content and thoughts in each song, but every listener must make of it what they want.
1. Ar
A short intro type track to open the album with words touching on offering, guilt and sacrifice. Cacophonous, abrasive, and alienating.
2. Autofagia
First single off the album. A continuation of the theme of offering and cannibalizing yourself for art’s sake. The chorus roughly translates to “eat greedily from my pain”.
3. Død
Second single off the album. A meditation on death. Death is a major factor in creation.
4. Form
Another abstract take on death. At one point the song switches between the point of view of someone watching a carcass and the carcass itself.
5. Dekomposition
A song with compulsion as the jumping off point. The inevitability of self-destruction of the soul and the body as it’s logical conclusion.
6. Kokon
When we played with the Danish band Tvivler the first time, we found out that sleep paralysis had been a common denominator for almost all of us. The song explores this phenomenon.
7. Transformation
The final track is about letting go.
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AR releases March 8th via Fysisk Format (Norway), Vinyltroll Records (Denmark) and Head Records (France).
