Rosa Faenskap Offer Glittering and Grim Black Metal on "Livredd" (Early Track Stream)
Post-black metal, in the 'post-metal that is also black metal' sense of the term, can always stand to benefit from a little rust and grime. Oslo's Rosa Faenskap accomplish this by dredging their dreamlike take on black metal in hardcore and crust, giving it rough edges and a sort of down-to-earth grounding that's pleasingly at odds with the lusher side. In this hypnotic superposition, their upcoming album Jeg blir til deg wraps itself around listeners like a wreath of rusted wire, captivating and also constricting. The album's melodic thrust wavers between triumphant, incensed, and perhaps fearful as the dynamics of the album ramp up and down in crests of fevered excitement and utterly depleted lows. In short, it can be emotionally trying, and that's by design: the band makes no effort to disguise or blunt their message. This is summed up nicely by their new single "Livredd," which we're premiering below.
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Now, I'm not going to act like I know any more Norwegian than Google Translate can offer, but "Livredd," or "terrified," portrays a torturous struggle: to be safe and yet restrained in a lie, or to live one's truth and face danger. It's a visceral and horrifically realistic fear, almost ridiculously so when compared to the completely imaginary horrors that are currently being conjured up in the minds of the ignorant by hate-mongering populists. The depressing sound bite that wraps up the track is really the final gut punch here, especially because the number mentioned is a lot fucking higher now. Rosa Faenskap make a point to include these sorts of painful reminders, and it only serves to reinforce their potency. Both a triumphant rebuttal and a stark reminder of reality, Jeg blir til deg is a whirlwind glimpse into what queer individuals face (and how they surpass it) in both the metal scene and beyond.
To quote the album's liner notes:
ROSA FAENSKAP is a declaration of love for – as well as a declaration of war against – black metal itself. In a genre marinated in unhealthy amounts of testosterone and misanthropy, ROSA FAENSKAP stands as a counterweight, celebrating queerness, equality, and everything that sparkles. They swap the corpse paint and sweaty odour of black metal with eyeliner and rainbows. They combine hard-hitting, lightning fast drums with heavy, melodic bass lines, bathing in a dreamy wall of sound from the guitar.
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Jeg blir til deg releases November 3rd via Fysisk Format.
