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Switchblade

Switchblade [2012]

(Denovali; US: 23 Oct 2012; UK: 21 Sep 2012)

Switchblade [2012] was recently nominated for a Swedish Grammy alongside other heavy fare from fellow citizens Graveyard and Witchcraft. In terms of sheer concussive weight alone, the sixth self-titled LP from sludgy doom duo Switchblade thoroughly deserves the win. It’s a hulking, altogether bruising edifice. Think Burning Witch by way of latter-day Celtic Frost (albeit one stoned out of its gourd).


Drummer Tim Bertilsson and guitarist Johan Folkesson are purveyors of droning, sinister crawls, unafraid to slather on the viscous sludge and eccentricity. The new album also features the Hammond organ of ex-Opeth keyboardist Per Wiberg and vocalists such as Katatonia’s Jonas Renkse to add sonic variance and flesh out Switchblade’s spacious sound. The three 10-minute-plus tracks (“Movement 1, 2 and 3”) mix often bare-boned and portentous riffing with elongated, groove-laden churns. The entire album drips with a syrupy, devilish disposition, and the glacial space between notes plays as strong a role as the thickness of tone, which, as it happens, is ladled on with staggeringly heavy relish.

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Craig Hayes is a contributing editor and columnist at PopMatters. Alongside his music and book reviews, his monthly column, Ragnarök, travels the byways of metal, noise and points in-between, and he co-authors PopMatters' monthly metal round-up, 'Mixtarum Metallum'. Craig also writes for Hellbound.ca and Heavy Metal about.com, and occasionally updates his own blog, sixnoises.com. Craig is partial to loud, progressive, experimental, ambient and eccentric music in all its guises—but has a life-threatening allergy to symphonic metal. He is also extremely fond of ‘70s dub, any film featuring a shark, and a strong cup of tea. (You can find Craig losing followers daily on twitter @sixnoises)


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