Besvärjelsen Announce New Album Atlas Out May 27; Post “Digerliden” Video
Just before setting up to write this post, I locked in a fair amount of coverage for the forthcoming LP, Atlas, by Swedish atmospheric heavy rock five-piece Besvärjelsen. I did this, simply, because the band rules. I haven’t heard Atlas yet — it’ll be out May 27 through Magnetic Eye, so I guess I have some time there — but the band will run a series of behind the scenes clips beforehand. In addition to teaching people how to say their name — my money is on “bezz-VER-yell-sun,” but I don’t actually have any money — the three videos spaced out between next week or the week after and early May will I assume feature footage of the studio and new music snippets and all that kind of thing. I’m hoping as well we get a look at some of Dalarna, from whence the band hail. In talking to the band for their PostWax release, both guitarist Andreas Baier and vocalist Lea Amling Alazam mentioned the affect of their surroundings on the music. I’d be interested to see such a place, and maybe we all will.
Preorders for the album are up, and that’s wonderful, but even better is the new video for first single “Digerliden,” which you can see at the bottom of this post.
As per the PR wire:
BESVÄRJELSEN: new album details + first video released!
Swedish heavy rockers BESVÄRJELSEN share their new video “Digerliden” as the first single taken from their new album ‘Atlas’, to be released on May 27, 2022 through Magnetic Eye Records.
Guitarist and vocalist Andreas Baier explains the song title: “The title ‘Digerliden’ takes its name from a place in Sweden’s Dalecarlian Finnmark which roughly translates as ‘the dire suffering’, which relates to the hardship that its ancestral people endured while trying to survive and grow crops in its vast forests and mountains. It is a magical and mysterious please, and its native folk music was a well of inspiration for this song.” Singer Lea Amling Alazam adds: “The lyrics deal with people in love who hate themselves. After watching Alice in Chains’ MTV Unplugged, I was very inspired by the way their harmonies work and the kind of numb yet powerful melodies. I also felt a bit of a need for an Arabic harmony, so I wanted to find a way to combine grunge and Middle Eastern influences.”
On their sophomore full-length “Atlas”, aptly named after the mythical Greek titan who literally carries the weight of the world on his shoulders, BESVÄRJELSEN take a huge step toward the perfect wedding of melodic doom with subtle touches of prog as well as punk, folk, and classic rock. The distinctly urban component in the sound of these rockers is very much amplified by the outstanding vocals of Lea Amling Alazam. The charismatic singer took a fresh approach by embracing melodies and phrases of the grunge and emo sounds that defined her youth as well as African and Middle Eastern music – while keeping her characteristic bluesy undertones.
With its wistful melodies and towering riff-power, “Atlas” represents a logical progression along the course that BESVÄRJELSEN charted from the start. The band was co-founded by guitarists and vocalists Andreas Baier and Staffan Stensland Vinrot in 2014 with a clear vision to channel the spirit and traditions of the vast Dalarna forests, a region otherwise famous for its painted wooden horses, into contemporary heavy music. Andreas, coming from a background in punk and hardcore, had realized that by slowing things down, their music would gain in-depth while allowing haunting melodies to exist alongside a cathartic heaviness.
‘Atlas’ was recorded at Studio Gröndal and Studio Glashuset, mixed and mastered by Karl Daniel Lidén in Sweden. The artwork was created by Besvärjelsen and Łukasz Jaszak. The album will be available as blue and curacao marble vinyl LP, digisleeve CD and digital on May 27th, 2022 with preorder available now via Magnetic Eye Records: http://lnk.spkr.media/besvarjelsen-atlas
BESVÄRJELSEN New album “Atlas”
Out May 27th on Magnetic Eye Records – Preorder: http://lnk.spkr.media/besvarjelsen-atlas
TRACKLIST:
1. The Cardinal Ride
2. Acheron
3. Clouds
4. House of the Burning Light
5. Paradise
6. Digerliden
7. Descent
8. Celestial
9. Obscured by Darkness
10. Divided Ends
Line-up
Lea Amling Alazam- vocals
Staffan Stensland Vinrot – guitars, vocals
Andreas Baier – guitars, vocals
Erik Bäckwall – drums
Johan Rockner – bass
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