Review: Slutavverkning ‘Levande Charader’
Since forming in 2018, Stockholm’s Slutavverkning have put out the three-part Arbetets Sorgemusik (The Song of Sorrow) series of EPs and have now followed this up with this, the Levande Charader (Living Charades) full-length debut. The band has a somewhat revamped line-up that retains the core trio of Jon Ekström on vocals, Pelle Andersson on guitar, Marcus Källström on drums but with the addition of bass legend Per Wiberg (Opeth/Candlemass/Spiritual Beggars) and Isak Hedtjärn (Fire! Orchestra) on saxophone and clarinet.
Levande Charader‘s themes according to vocalist Ekström centres around ‘a misunderstood pig farmer who is filling holes that only get deeper the more he tries to fill them’. The band have also described themselves as ‘Swedish anti-capitalist jazz-punk fury’, alrighty then.
Sveavägen is an instrumental piece featuring mad sax blasts, plonking bass and rolling drums. The track very effectively builds tension throughout with high quality free jazz and acts as a tasty opener, providing an excellent snapshot of what to expect potentially from the rest of the album. Psykisk Terror (Psychic Terror) is a hybrid of funky no-wave ala James Chance and the Contortions (think Distort Yourself) as well as the angular and jagged style guitar of the late Andy Gill (Gang of Four). An absolutely thrilling number.
Längtans Törst (The Thirst of Longing) manages to match if not outright surpass its predecessor in abrasiveness with some truly insane vocals that make Mike Patton at his most schizophrenic sound positively conservative. Speaking of Patton, parts do remind one of Faith No More during their most belligerent (Cuckoo For Caca, Ugly In The Morning etc) and even the introduction of a Grover Washington Jr slab of mellow sax part way through offers little in the way of sonic respite.
there is an omnipresent darkness in the sound…
Om Natten (About the Night) demonstrates a strong understanding of the use of atmospherics and dynamics showing the band is far from being a one trick pony. As intonated by the title, there is an omnipresent darkness in the sound that would rival that of The Cramps and The Birthday Party, making both of those seem about as threatening as Barney the Dinosaur by comparison. The album’s halfway point is marked by Idioter (Idiots), a wondrous and eccentric Beefheart-ian slab of discordant noise-rock whilst Ättika (Vinegar) is a brooding instrumental that harvests post-punk’s bleakness along with the more exotic spiritual/world jazz championed (and pioneered) by the likes of Pharaoh Sanders, spectacular.
If you were missing Oingo Boingo’s new wave/ska weirdness then Realisation will certainly help to scratch that itch, meanwhile, Grisar (Pigs) takes you down noise-rock avenue with moments recalling the uncomfortable rumblings of bands such as The Jesus Lizard. Skruva, Spika, Hamra (Screw, Hammer, Nail) is the album’s shortest track at only one minute forty-two, and by extension, its most direct so that if bands such as The Cows and their Am Rep brethren excite you, then you’ll positively lose your shit here.
The use of Hedtjärn‘s sax in Sprungen Ur Våld (Sprung From Violence) seems significantly reduced and the vibe is far more low-key and reserved making for what is one of the more conventional sounding numbers on this ten track album. As such I was left longing for the more unhinged side to the band’s repertoire, a solid track but far from my favourite.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Levande Charader as it wasn’t on my radar, in any case, I decided to give it a shot and was blown away. The album does an excellent job of building on the aforementioned preceding EPs and I for one am excited to hear what they come up with next.
Label: Feral Cuts
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Reza Mills
