"Biskopskniven" By Blessings
Post-Hardcore At Its Best
Blessings are planning to release a new highlight from the post-music corner on May 21st. The Ocean label Pelagic Records is responsible for the new album "Biskopskniven". I have already had the chance to listen to it.
The first track is called "The Hound". It really gets under your skin – this is post-hardcore the way we love it. The vocals are building up to be cut by howling sounds shortly afterwards. A wild and exciting game begins – short and concise. The statement is crystal clear. The bright and hard guitar sounds mix with the ear-catching singing – from both directions and wonderfully accentuated in an exciting way. At some point, the tempo slows down to the minimum and finally suffocates in the decent chaos of the breakdown of the second song on the record "Strings Of Read".
"A Belly Full Of Stone"
![Blessings – "Biskopskniven"](Blessings – "Biskopskniven" "Blessings – \"Biskopskniven\"")
The third song on "Biskopskniven" is already available, just like the sixth ("Iron Heel"). "A Belly Full Of Stone" starts with clattering noise effects and escalates into a furious, driving and intense piece that should please the punk friends among you.
"The Whip Hand" is a rhythmic masterpiece. Precise and coherent, it whips along and builds a great atmosphere. It prepares us for the climax of the album, which takes place between track 5 ("Komskottsknallen") and track 6 ("Iron Heel").
The two tracks couldn't be more different, but yet they seem like they're of the same kind. "Komskottsknallen" is meteoric and effective from the first to the last note; Iron Heel builds harmoniously and gradually comes to a head. I've included the video for the song below.
"Old Bones"
"Old Bones" seems a bit spooky at first. The subsequent feedback announces the guitars, which eventually join the characteristic screaming. What is it? Acoustic and quiet sounds in the middle part of the piece let another world shimmer through. Once again, the brutal harshness of the vocals builds, only to dissolve into an ending that blurs into loops – a great song!
It's been a while since my last Swedish class, but I still know what "Allting är jättebra" means. It's something like "Everything is great". So it's a bit like the English answer "Thanks, I'm fine!" when someone asks you "How are you" and actually just wants to hear a simple sentence. Whether the song is really about that, I can only guess. In any case, it expresses true feelings. With its 2:45 minutes, it is the shortest song on the record. Carried and profound with unique vocals and whispered sounds – do I hear a touch of Converge through here? I like it!
The memorable song is followed by the finale, which is at the same time the longest track on the record. "Black Vestals" is a worthy end for such a milestone-like album. Blessings are once again showing us how it goes here, showing us how electric, sensitive and detailed post-hardcore can be.
"'Biskopskniven' is dominated by the drums".
Blessings synth expert Erik Skytt comments on his band's latest work thus:
"The drums have played a crucial role in shaping the sound of 'Biskopskniven'. We wrote most of the tracks with a very loop and groove-based approach. It's a kind of drum manifesto from our drummer Matthias Rasmusson. As a result, the songs have a very different foundation than the music on our debut album. The record lives from its repetitions and simplicity - we deliberately avoided bells and whistles."
There are some beautiful At The Drive-In moments on the record. But Blessings definitely don't have to hide behind the great icons of the scene. With "Biskopskniven", they fly high. The album does not only take place in the hardcore area. There are also references to punk, heavy and no wave.
Johan G. Winther
"Biskopskniven" means something like "the bishop's knife". What Blessings mean by that can only be guessed. The sound of the record definitely cuts deep into the flesh and touches the deepest emotional levels.
When listening to "Biskopskniven", you get the sense that the band members have a special connection to each other. They all come from the Swedish DIY punk and hardcore scene and have been on the road with projects like Ancho, Fä and Chester Copperpot. So you can't call them "blank slates" by any means.
Johan G. Winther, who I recently interviewed about his solo album "The Rupturing Sowle", and who comes from the same background as Blessings, is also part of the project. He comments "Biskopskniven" like this:
"The album was pretty much a joint creative effort of all band members. All of us greed that we wouldn't let it get out of hand and into the world until it was exactly the way we wanted it to be. We wanted to create deep sounds with textures that layer on top of each other and the characteristic of revealing new details with every listen. We worked hard to give each song its very own voice. Although this hasn't proved easy at times, we feel that there would have been no other way to let 'Biskopskniven' emerge."
"Biskopskniven" is a unique album
If you already know the debut album "Bittervatten", you need to check out the new one. You will love it, even if it is completely different to its predecessor. The band has become more versatile. "Biskopskniven" almost sounds as if Blessings have become aware of the possibilities of their tools – now using them to their full extent. That includes the vocals just as much as the work with synths, guitar and rhythm section. I'm curious to see what happens next here. If it turns out to be the band's unique selling point to appear in a completely new light with every record, we could expect great things again with the next one. But for now, go listen to "Biskopskniven". I swear you won't regret it.
The album is a top-class record through and through: None other than Magnus Lindberg from Cult Of Luna did the mixing and mastering. The artwork is by the Swedish artist and musician Johannes Brander, who presents his paintings in galleries all over the world. With his design, he was "aiming for a deeper feverish journey towards an inner landscape, where atmosphere and unknown places rise from the ashes of the new dawn" – just like Blessings did with their songs.\ You can pre-order "Biskopskniven" here.