Review: Shaam Larein ‘Sticka En Kniv I Världen’
Sticka En Kniv I Världen which translates as ‘Stick a Knife into the World’, is the sophomore release from Sweden’s Shaam Larein and the follow-up to 2020’s Sculpture debut. The band, who originally formed in 2018, have in their short-lived lifespan featured at the Roskilde Festival and attracted the attention of artists such as Chelsea Wolfe.
Just in case you were thinking of heading over to Google Translate to find out the meaning behind Shaam Larein, it is in fact the name of their frontwoman. Going by the band’s Discogs page, the rest of the line-up consists of Elmer Hallsby – bass, Johan Borgström – guitar, Linnea Hjertén – keyboards/vocals, Mille Hökengren – drums and Nathalie Ahlbom – vocals. The band’s connection to long since defunct heavy metallers In Solitude comes in the form of Pelle Ahman who designed the gothic themed artwork, and his brother Gottfrid has produced four music videos for them.
Sticka En Kniv I Världen reminds one of the bleak gothic post-punk of Siouxsie and the Banshees as well as the heaviness of psychedelic doom metal bands such as Lightmaker and Windhand. It’s this perfect blend of the two styles that make this opening number so enchanting and bewitching simultaneously. Indeed, Shaam herself describes the music in the promotional notes as ‘a touch of aggression mixed with passion’.
The next track Flesh Of Gold takes a slight stylistic detour with an added sense of drama, ala Chelsea Wolfe and Emma Ruth Rundle, alongside shades of Sparks’ bombastic eccentricity (think Fall In Love With Myself Again). This combination offers up the track an exciting level of unpredictability. Beware The Duchess is pure deathrock, think of the late, great Rozz Williams and Valor Kand’s collaboration on the Ashes album while I Have No Face, is a short mellow piece akin to the bastard child of Marissa Nadler and PJ Harvey, serving as a nice circuit breaker to proceedings.
a stunningly diverse array of musical styles meshed together to forge a cohesive, coherent whole…
Murderer feels somewhat post-rock and progressive in tone, along the lines of what was recently offered by Black Math Horseman’s superlative reunion Self-Titled EP which I had the honour of reviewing back in October. At no point did the track feel predictable and is of the kind that makes you want to replay it again and again in case you missed something the first time around, which you more than likely invariably did.
Caress My Thoughts is seductive, and even sexy in the Type O Negative sense, but without the wry humour which admittedly grated me most about that band. There is more heartfelt intent present in the raw emotion, ala Jarboe/Diamanda Galas, as opposed to Morticia Adams and Elvira. Goth clichés need not apply here thanks.
Leave Me Here To Die, despite its grim title, is in fact shamanistic and tribal in its approach and largely percussion led, think Lili Refrain and you should get where I’m coming from. Finally, Massacre recalls the epic doom metal of Candlemass if they had played the Bat Cave (legendary ‘80s London goth venue) more often. A stunning and powerful way with which to conclude the album.
For Shaam, Sticka En Kniv I Världen is about ‘finding the light through a sea of darkness’ and ‘accepting the melancholy and seeing the beauty of what lies underneath our mysterious sound’, and to this extent she has certainly succeeded. This is a stunningly diverse array of musical styles meshed together to forge a cohesive, coherent whole. An extraordinarily difficult feat to pull off at the best of times, but one at which Shaam Larein has excelled.
Label: Svart Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram
Scribed by: Reza Mills
