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Vokonis Premiere ‘Live at Studio Underjord 2019’ Video

Last month, while no doubt restless during the process of making their new album during a time of ongoing global pandemic, increasingly progressive Swedish riffers Vokonis put up a two-songer stopgap called Live at Studio Underjord 2019 that — you guessed it — was recorded in 2019 at — you guessed it again — Studio Underjord. The studio, which in the past has hosted the likes of Skraeckoedlan, Domkraft, MaidaVale, Ocean Chief, Hazemaze, Alastor, The Tower, is set in Norrköping, and Vokonis come from Borås to the south and west. It’s about three-hours between the two, but last September, the band — no strangers to the place; they’ve done their last two LPs there — made the trip to put down live versions of “AntlerQueen” and “Sunless Hymnal,” both of which come from their 2019 album, Grasping Time (review here).

That record wasn’t shy in displaying the increasing breadth that Vokonis‘ sound has come to encompass, or the variety of influence they take from sludge, heavy rock, post-rock, progressive metal, and so on. Particularly, a dynamic of shared vocals between guitarist Simona Ohlsson and bassist Jonte Johansson — while not brand new by any means — became an increasing presence in their sound, and perhaps in addition to wanting to showcase how that comes across live, the band also wanted to get versions of the two songs to tape with Peter Ottosson on drums, whereas Grasping Time was recorded when Emil Larsson was still in the lineup.

So if you need reasons, there are a couple right there. I’m not sure you actually need reasons though, because whatever it was that had Vokonis riding the E4 up to Underjord, the fact remains that the songs are killer heavy and killer heavy is its own excuse for being. Indeed we get to hear Johansson‘s clean singing in the rolling “Sunless Hymnal” mixed in with some of Ohlsson‘s more shouting approach in “AntlerQueen,” and even some screams thrown in at the end, as on the record, and as the two songs appear in succession on the actual studio release as well, they flow together with no hesitation at all, as though they were written that way. Funny how that works out sometimes.

I’m not saying I’ve heard any rough versions of tracks or anything like that, but Vokonis‘ progression is ongoing with their new material, and they’re getting ready to explore some new ideas in terms of arrangement as well, so whatever else 2020 or early 2021 brings, it’s going to be worth your time keeping an eye out for news for what they have coming up. Until then, I’m happy to host the premiere for the video edition of Live at Studio Underjord 2019, because, well, see the paragraph above about “killer heavy.” Especially as someone who’s never gotten to see them live, I appreciate the chance to check this out.

I hope you enjoy:

Vokonis, Live at Studio Underjord 2019 video premiere

Vokonis play “AntlerQueen” and “Sunless Hymnal”, both from their latest album Grasping Time, live at Studio Underjord.

Vokonis are:
Simona Ohlsson – Guitar & Vocals
Jonte Johansson – Bass Vocals
Peter Ottosson – Drums

Vokonis, Live at Studio Underjord 2019 (2020)

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Vokonis on Instagram

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The Sign Records website

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