FRUSEN SORG – SMÄRTPUNKTER

Since the 1990’s, the pair forged their strong musical cohesion from playing together in Stiu Nu Stiu and Literature and have lurked around the darker paths of their local music scenes. Initially considered a side project over a period of years, this album was unplanned and was born from the result of one recording session that then evolved into what became the band as such and a commitment to carry this recording into an official release. What manifested, is an intense 25 minutes of grinding, raw d-beat blackish punk-metal prescribed over fourteen microdoses of raging catharsis.

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From the outset, the tempos are desperate and the moods are cold. The drums seem to work in a slightly off tempo as they crash into the dissonant guitar buzz and filthy overdriven bass grafted with angular and pained screams and shouts that feel harrowing and honest. Lyrically, themes of psychosocial trauma, societal failures, and political collapse seem to be the subjective denominators articulated in this bleak sojourn. 

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Songs are shortly tenured around the two-minute mark or less and are succinctly harsh spaces that invoke a dystopian sense of uncertainty and emotional survival. Standout tracks for me are, Att Slippa Bli Älskad, Bort, Håll Andan,En Råtta Som Flyr Från Vårt Sjunkande Skepp, and the single Det Egentliga Livet to name a few.

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To a certain degree it’s slightly challenging to compare what Frusen Sorg sound like other than what I’ve written already, however, fans of the darker crustcore and blackened shoegazey sub-genres may find some connection with this - think elements of Iskra, Trespasser, Martyrdöd, and Sveta Istina Vjestica being stripped, condensed, then fused with an anarcho-punk forwardness. Smärtpunkter offers an insightful lens into personal anguish and socio-political apprehension that is robust and thought provoking.

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SCORE 9/10

Reviewed by glennosp