SVALBARD: Removing The Mask (2024)

By BRIAN GIFFIN

SVALBARD is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, midway between Norway and the North Pole. Home to research stations, coal mines and the Global Seed Bank, the islands have also lent their name – via His Dark Materials – to a Bristol four piece that seems to defy categorisation. Variously described as post-hardcore, post-metal, blackened hardcore and a variety of other terms, they are by their own admission a tough act to pin down.

Guitarist Liam Phelan pauses when he’s asked to describe Svalbard’s style himself.

“Um, I’d say we’re a metal/post-rock/hard rock band! They’re the terms for everything that we incorporate.” More broadly, he says. “It’s basically a combination of every genre that we love, every sub-genre, everything that we like the sound of, we’ve poured it in.”

It’s a chemistry that has so far created four well-received albums, the most recent of which, last year’s The Weight of The Mask, met with healthy acclaim as it took them into the British charts for the first time. As its title suggests, it’s an album that deals with the burden of mental health and depression, subjects the band had explored on 2020’s When I Die, Will I Get Better? Always a socially conscious band with an often stridently feminist focus, vocalist and lyricist Serena Cherry felt the issues of depression and social isolation were even more pronounced in the wake of the COVID crisis.

“Serena writes all the lyrics, and she’s definitely delved into the more personal realm. Episodes of depression, especially since COVID, made her want to write more about personal anguish and problems like that.”

Songs like “Faking It” and “To Wilt Beneath the Weight” explore the anguish of hiding from others signs of depression  in everyday interactions and the band dedicated “Eternal Spirits” to Joey Jordison and fallen comrades from the music world. 

“Musically, which is more my side,” Phelan goes on, “it’s been the same sort of thing, just bringing that kind of emotion and everyday stresses … especially since the pandemic. It was a very weird time and it really gave us a creative push.”

To that end, Phelan played violin on the album to add further emotional depth, contributing yet another dimension to Svalbard’s all-encompassing style. Like any working and touring performer or artist, the global COVID shutdown impacted the band greatly, and The Weight of the Mask was a direct consequence of that. The band were on the verge of releasing When I Die… and had no way of supporting it.

“Before the pandemic, we were quite busy,” Phelan says. “We were on two tours at the tail end of 2019, and then we wrote and recorded the last album, and then as soon as we finished recording and had it mixed, that’s when everything shut down. We had this new album coming out in the middle of the pandemic, we couldn’t be in the same room together, and couldn’t play any gigs together for a year, or something. So, to go from being out on the road to just being home all the time was quite a change for everyone. When you’re used to being out, travelling a lot, it definitely affects you.”

Four years on from that dark time, Svalbard will be making their way to Australia for the first time with a four date tour in May. It’s a tight schedule, but Phelan’s hoping there’s a little time to “soak up the vibes between shows”. After that, it’s back to Europe for the summer festivals. It’s a circuit that offers plenty of contrast, and some of the biggest crowds.

“Obviously at all the English festivals, it’s miserable and always raining,” Phelan says with a sly chuckle. “We played Hellfest last year, and that was incredible. I think it was the biggest crowd we’ve ever played to. It was nerve wracking, but an incredible experience.” 

SVALBARD AUSTRALIAN TOUR

23/5: Lynotts Lounge, Perth

24/5: Crowbar, Sydney

25/5: Soapbox, Brisbane

26/5: Howler, Melbourne