Tvivler

Ego

Written by: PP on 25/10/2020 03:07:28

Denmark's answer for Touché Amoré, Tvivler has been gathering momentum over the past couple of years through explosive live shows and a cast of experienced people that range from Thomas Burø, the ex-vocalist of Danish screamo cult band Lack, to members of Children of Fall and Town Portal. As you might imagine from such a wide range of musical influences, the debut album "Ego" is a cacophonic, nonsensical piece that draws from the origins of screamo while also connecting with Scandinavian cold winter in one of the truest tributes to (old) The Psyke Project material I've heard lately in terms of the soundscape.

Throughout "Ego", we find ourselves in chilling realms of freezing desperation, where raw guitars and lo-fi melodies echo Nordic influence from JR Ewing, Traktor, and, naturally, Refused to mention but a few bands, while also sourcing from the emotional and raw base of Americanized post-hardcore where the likes of Touché Amoré, At The Drive-In, Comadre, or Frameworks are to be found. Yes, it is screamo in its essence, heavily infusing melancholy into cacophonic punk-laden percussion, with even the occasional trumpets (courtesy of Henrik Pultz Melbye) to mix up the pot further, but it does so faithfully to the style and genre. Parallels to Geoff Rickly's United Nations and power violence, in general, are all over the place as well, ensuring a vivid, yet tight and contained sense of urgency and immediacy to Tvivler's sound.

Indeed, if there's one aspect of "Ego" to highlight, it is its relentless aggression that brings about the urgency and immediacy effect. It feels like the record is steamrolling you from start to finish. But is it enough? And more importantly, is it enough given that the lyrics are all in Danish? The answer to the former is a resounding yes: "Ego" smashes through any screamo/power-violence fans' preferences exactly as you'd expect. But whether it'll allow them to grow internationally will be a question mark where our opinion is: probably not.

For now, "Ego" stands as a remarkable piece of Danish screamo that deserves to be heard, especially for its experiental bits like "Vestover" or "Jonas" other than the pummeling of "Sabotage", "Forkert", and "Tvangslogik".

Download: Forkert, Sabotage, Tvangslogik, Jonas
For the fans of: Touché Amoré, Suis La Lune, Comadre, Traktor, JR Ewing, United Nations, Refused
Listen: Facebook

Release date 03.04.2020
Negativ Psykologi Records

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