I didn’t realize how excited I was for the new Vattnet Viskar album Settler until I heard some of the new material they’ve been dropping, and reading about the concepts on Decibel.
And yeah, everyone’s making a hullabaloo about the album art and how it’s “controversial” and “not black metal,” but to me the only two points that matter are: 1) it’s actually just a beautiful image, one that activates more associations and thoughts than 110% of metal covers these days and 2) the music rules (and barely even sounds like black metal at this point, so who cares?). The comparisons to Deafheaven’s Sunbather also feel like just too obvious a place to start – Vattnet Viskar are going for something far different with this cover that’s far removed from any kind of exploitation or thematic contrast. Read the Decibel piece, check out the cover, and listen for yourself!
Not bad for a couple shorthairs, right? As someone who wasn’t convinced by their demos or Sky Swallower, this album sounds like it’s going to be great.
And just in time, the boys sent us over this little tracking video, which features drummer Seamus Menihane running down the album’s title track.
