You Can Be My Wave

Norway must be engaging in some sort of protectionist campaigns because Honningbarna, who are fifteen years and seven albums deep into their career at this point, has flown so far under my radar. By some incredible stroke of bad luck, we never managed to cross paths despite me believing I had my finger on the pulse of experimental punk discourse. This thankfully changed with Soft Spot, who made its presence known alongside qualifiers like punk, noise, post-hardcore, and Refused. Going off that alone, I gave this album a listen and was immediately floored by its sheer intensity. The muscular drumming, the piercing guitars, the messy, squashed mixes, and Edvard Valberg's very alarming screams resulted in a record that is far more visceral than any other record I've heard in recent memory; extreme metal albums included.

Schäfer kicks things off with a vengeance. We're instantly greeted with an aggressive, rumbling bassline soon joined by a propulsive tom groove and Valberg's desperate shouts. When the guitars come in, they cut like razors. We're already beginning at such a heightened level of rage, and yet the song increasingly becomes more frantic and feverish. We reach a moment in the track where we get these heavy, punching crescendos all while Valberg screams into the void. The band returns to firing on all cylinders for the track's final chaotic moment where rhythm guitars don't quite match up with the drum groove, and lead guitar melodies spiral out of control. This is how you start a record. Amor fati comes barreling in next and the first thing I'm struck by is how fast and intricate the drumming is on this cut. The precision, the lightning quick wisps of an open hi-hat, and the sneaky little tom fills show that Nils Nilsen, in addition to being a total brute, clearly has some refined chops behind the kit. I'm also seeing versatility in the vocals. Valberg opens with a monotone drone that is doubled and slightly modulated to give it this very uncomfortable, android-like quality. We also get some melodic vocal lines out of him that are catchy, yet harrowing. This just goes to show that Valberg can be menacing in more ways than just screaming. This song also features a fantastic instrumental passage that includes a guitar lead mashing away on a single note as the pitch starts to bend downward, as if it were melting. They reprise this passage again at the end of the track, and while I'm not sure if there's added instrumentation, something about it just feels bigger, louder, and heavier. The band is a solid, unwavering unit in this moment and it compels me to lose my mind and flail around like an idiot.

MP5 brings the tempo down, but certainly not the intensity. The verses have a very steady beat accompanied by a jangly guitar that plays a syncopated rhythm with slightly panicked accents. Valberg is initially a little more reserved, talking forcefully in a freestyled manner as opposed to shouting. However, when the song transitions into the chorus, we are met with the most explosive moment on the record. Deafening shots of noise erupt out of nowhere and Valberg also offers his most unhinged performance. It's another totally thrilling rager. The following track, Festen som aldri stopper, is where we get our first big shift in sound. The band goes in a poppier, indie-garage direction that features more palatable melodies and a straightforward, driving beat. Valberg is also injecting a little more melody into his vocals, but there is still a raw passion that emanates from his delivery. I would liken this track to a Bloc Party cut, but with more hardcore-tinged vocals.

Up to this point, the record always had this nocturnal, cavernous, and unsettling air surrounding it. That sense is amplified even more on God gutt. We once again have a very strong foundation in the bass and drums, although, it's accompanied this time by lots of fleeting sounds and textures that make you feel like you're at the center of an underground cyberpunk rave. Percussion elements are phased, creating this sense of distance as they sweep through frequencies. There's distant knocking, industrial screeching, and airy synths that offer a chilling breeze. Honningbarna closes this song with some percussively round and reverbed synths that sound akin to banging on hollowed PVC pipes. Yet another example of the band coming to exciting, truly memorable conclusions. After this short recess from the more chaotic material, we jump right back into the fray with Hvilke splinter. This song is simultaneously the most tortured cut as well as the most beautiful. You get the former from the black metal elements; the tremolo picked guitars, the blast beats, and of course the screamed vocals. However, there's also a great deal of melody here that gives pained melancholy through the chord progressions in the guitar, and the downcast vocal melodies in the verses.

We get more strong highlights in the album's second half with the single Heute ist mein tag, which is surprisingly danceable, that is, if you're not turned off by yet another intimidating bassline and Valberg's snotty, punk delivery. I love the way they fill the empty space in the verses with auxiliary percussion, and the band also comes through with another huge chorus complete with screamed mantras and some off-kilter guitar leads. The album comes to a close with Ultraøyer which shows even more new sides to this already incredibly versatile band. We get moody and atmospheric verses, an unexpected industrial rave passage, and the intro features some warped, nightmarish guitar tones that could be plucked right out of a modern metalcore or nu-metal record. Anchored by a mathy drum rhythm, the band takes us through a lengthy build-up that eventually leads us to a very volatile ending. I come out of this album with perhaps a little ear fatigue, but more importantly, I feel like I'm on fire.

Given the sheer force of this album, I felt compelled to try and make sense of the lyrics; to find the purpose behind these very aggressive and frantic sounds I was hearing. Imperfect translation be damned, I started to identify some themes, and it was not what I expected. In the most reductive sense, Soft Spot's themes can be boiled down to ensuring that life is in a constant state of evolution. Despite the clear rage displayed on Schäfer, the message is actually a positive one; encouraging those to never be complacent in the pursuit of a better life. These themes are echoed on Heute ist mein tag which now reads like a self-determination anthem. Rød bic has an anti-capitalist angle, depicting a burnt out accountant who balances their own books by reclaiming their agency; feeding the social, emotional, and creative aspects of life that go neglected in our service to greedy, unsympathetic corporations. This overarching theme, as well as others that I've probably missed in translation, are summed up beautifully in the album's opening monologue where Valberg chronologically recounts these valuable lessons and milestones throughout his life. Some insights are mundane, but most are strikingly poignant. I will perseverate on this album for the foreseeable future.

What an impressive album. The textures and the rhythms are so diverse, and yet never deviates too far from what feels like the band's core sound. The performances are impeccably tight and the chemistry between the band is off the charts. The conclusions to these songs, specifically, feel like the band is creating a monumental, gale force wind for which I can't help getting sucked into. Valberg is also such a powerful and animated vocalist that he drives the emotional character of the song whenever he is heard. When it comes to vocalists at this end of the rock spectrum, he is undoubtedly a star. Very rarely do new albums get evaluated this high on account of one outstanding test; the test of time. However, I have a strong feeling Soft Spot can go the distance.