Kollapse - Sult

Angry Metal Guy

I know zero about the post-metal and post-hardcore scenes. I was forced into this review by the visage of pain and deformity that lies just to the left of this paragraph. His eyes needed not gaze into mine for my will to be sapped entirely from my body, and I found myself helpless to the whims of this tortured spirit. He spoke to me in my dreams, followed me at work, asked me a bunch of personal questions that I was very uncomfortable answering. But that’s the thing about being haunted. Nothing you do in the name of that attached soul feels like a choice anymore. And so I write down these words in the hopes that picking apart Denmark trio Kollapse‘s sophomore album Sult will rid me of this vile passenger.

Far be it from me to start my analysis with a conclusion, but Sult is a cool record. Kollapse‘s sound lacks the same sonic density of most of the extreme metal scene, but Sult deals heavy blows to the cranium just as well without all that. Part of that is due to the meaty bass tone, which bustles about the record with all the grace of an angry bull on anabolic steroids. That’s a good thing, by the way. Additionally, riffs abound across these tight forty-one minutes, discordant and dissonant as often as they are stripped down. There lies an impenetrable murk beneath the pained roars and the shimmering leads, a murk that provides ample atmosphere which sows immense discomfort upon all who bear its song. With these elements implemented in concert, Kollapse create something that is neither highly technical nor destructive. Sult instead falls into a category of music that intends to haunt you, easily digestible but just as easily horrifying.

SULT by kollapse

There are no frilly introductions before opener “Drift” assaults your eardrums with the pounding thunder of an elephant stampede. Kollapse made a smart choice in dealing the most straightforward encapsulation of post-metallic sludge first, possibly as a way to hook their audience in before they have a chance to escape. Escape you won’t, though, because follow up “Knæler” brings dissonant terror to the fore, eliminating any sense of comfort as it rolls up to your house in a beat up GMC conversion van with smoker’s curtains covering every window. “Libido” and “Byrd” offer shots of riff-laden adrenaline which add some last minute momentum to get the audience through the back half of the journey. That leaves the closer, the title for which I refuse to type out in full. It’s slow, sad and sublime, evoking a lonely desert traveler on his last leg, desperately searching for the smallest drop of water. It doesn’t hurt that it concludes its final minutes with a cool-as-fuck trumpet solo.

As much as I believe Sult to be a wholly compelling specimen of hard-hitting post-metal, the music struggles to stick with me as stubbornly as the artwork. Hardcore vocals take a bit of time for me to fully appreciate, and I never quite reached that point with those used here. That being said, Kollapse deliver their screams with emotion and passion, so at least there’s that. Aside from personal nitpicks like these, the one thing that really holds Sult back from greatness is consistency. Forty-one minutes is an ideal runtime for this album, and it’s a fluid ride from start to finish, but as a consequence individual tracks bleed into each other and occasionally lack form.

The sounds of pain and anguish define each and every moment of Sult, and that pain is felt by the listener on a bone-deep level. Yet, I struggle to retain a concrete recollection of my experience with Kollapse‘s music until the next time I visit. Perhaps that’s the point. It forces to you come back in order to relive everything as if it were fresh. Without some kind of anchor to remind me how cathartic the experience was, however, I just don’t see myself returning to Sult as often as it probably deserves. To everyone reading this, I strongly encourage checking it out for yourselves in full. I might not have a strong attachment to this record now, but I guarantee that there are a great multitude out there who will.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Fysisk Format
Websites: facebook.com/Kollapseband | kollapse.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: June 25th, 2021

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