After nearly fifteen years of taking left hand turns to get a better view of the scenic rot, the piling detritus resultant of the parasitic human condition, mounds to the point where one ultimately finds themselves either spiraling inward with fatalistic haste or completing the circle around the heap. In the midst of dancing around the havoc with increasingly dark yet predictably angled turns Eskilstuna, Sweden-borne “alphapocalyptic rock” quintet Alfahanne now take a full nose dive into the pale, accelerating toward the end on this darkest and heaviest yet full-length album. This fifth record from the band , ‘Vår tid är nu‘, embraces what the previous four hadn’t in that it pours its black metallic dread on enough that it reads one step beyond beyond black n’ roll aesthetics. Their core paradigm is not entirely disturbed herein but a few smaller tonal changes do well to unlock a series of far more compelling lures, a different sensation and a better fitting skin.

Alfahanne formed circa 2010 between folks who’d been involved with black metal bands from their area in the 90’s as well as some folk rock/neofolk groups (Arcana, Sub Luna) from the 2000’s/2010’s era of labels Cold Meat Industry and Cyclic Law. The fellowe I recognize most easily is of course guitarist/vocalist Pehr Skioldhammer who was component of Maze of Torment‘s early years as well as a key part of Vinterland‘s core trio. This background gives us some interesting trivia but doesn’t directly account for the blend of heavy rock, post-punk and black n’ roll which they’ve developed over the years. The first release from the band was a split with Shining (Sweden) in 2012 where their split-mates were peaking in their elaborate eight album’s sound and Alfahanne were figuring their way around a classic depressive heavy rock sound, nothing too out of order for Scandinavian mood rock though you couldn’t have ignored the timbre of Skioldhammer vocals, a big part of their early signature which hadn’t changed drastically over the course of their first four LPs, though each record featured numerous guest spots from well-known or similarly-minded black metal musicians.

The signature sound we could attribute to Alfahanne then and now was made clear enough 2014 as ‘Alfapokalyps‘ released to some notice as the band presented what I’d called “roll n’ black”, or, a sound that paired anthemic post-punk grooves, hard rock rhythms, and black metal infused mid-to-slow paced rock music. The album was raw in its production values and not always tuneful in a direct way but the inclusion of a few guest vocalists alongside a droning style meant it stood out in memory back in the day even if it wasn’t my thing. Again, this would more-or-less serve as a general template for the band to work with and iterate upon over the next few releases where the pacing of their work and its melodic ventures were rarely experimental beyond their own style of easy-kicked, rough-edged style. Though I’m not building up to the suggestion that ‘Vår tid är nu‘ is drastically different, but rather that it will seem like it due to the aforementioned changes to the vocal inflections and more black metal inspired guitar riffs, a new feeling explored more than a reinvention of their steady built sense of self. “Elden har vaknat” offers a more direct example with its satisfying half-speed blast beat to it, creating a certain mental torsion between black metal and something like garage rock in a way that black n’ roll bands often don’t.

Opener “9e Cirkeln” introduces this rasping and scowled-out multi-layered vocal delivery beset by the dramatic melodic thrum of their rhythms which’d qualify as escalating mid-paced black metal runs in most anyone else’s hands. This is, as I see it, less a reversion back to the style of the first album and more a simple change in technique which ends up making a big difference for the Alfahanne experience; Of the notable guest spots here the piano and slide guitar dressed “Eremiten” features vocals from Doedsadmiral (Nordjevel), adding a grotesque voice atop the surreal swing of the piece otherwise. Likewise one of the best pieces on the album, “Wolfman”, builds off of this moment at the midpoint of the album with an even more active steel guitar performance (by way of Andreas Carlsson) as if to compound this point that you could easily walk into this album thinking black metal ritual and get a classic rock guitar piece built around an 80’s gothic rock beat. While they hold onto some of the catchier pieces for the band to nail down the guests have long been highlights on this band’s records and no doubt the songs here, especially those which feature Spellgoth (Horna) and Nattfursth (Sorhin) here, deliver some of the most substantial parts of the experience without interrupting the morbid dramatism powering the momentum of the full listen.

For my own taste ‘Vår tid är nu‘ is easily the best material from Alfahanne since their debut and edges that first record out with plenty more depth/quality to the render and an overall heavier showing. Though I’d felt each of their releases yielded moderate variation over the last decade this one was eminently listenable, more of a pleasure to pick up and spend a solid forty minutes with than prior. The only real criticism of their work that I have is long standing and broadly applied, since you’ll hear their simple approach to rhythm rarely venturing anywhere but a good clean stomp on this album and the four prior. Despite it being fairly rare that an album in this style that manages to hold my attention for any amount of time I’d eventually felt the need for some manner of variation, a break in the momentum and sameness of experience and this limited my overall time with it. A moderately high recommendation.

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