Reykjavík Grapevine - 01.02.2019, Page 35

Hearts Of Lead
Kaleikr’s ambitious debut album is
original, heavy and complex
Words: Phil Uwe Widiger Photos: Timothée Lambrecq
Album
Kaleikr’s debut album “Heart of
Lead” will be released on February
15th. Preorder the album on their
Bandcamp.
In recent years, the Icelandic black
metal scene has been flourishing.
Bands such as Misþirming, Svar-
tidauði, Sinmara and Almyrkvi (to
name just a few) have put Iceland
on the map for dissonant metal,
straight from the darkest depths
of hell.
From the backbone of this scene,
a new star is rising: Kaleikr. Evad-
ing easy classification, their debut
album, “Heart of Lead,” is a swirling
nightmare of psychedelic guitar
melodies, neck-breaking riffs and
proggy rhythms, delivered with
emotional intensity and a dense
musical concept.
Feel music
“The whole album is like a journey
with ups and downs, but so are the
songs in themselves, and even the
various sections within the songs,”
says vocalist and multi-instrumen-
talist Maximilian Klimko.
“We want people to come back
to the music and experience a new
layer of it that they didn’t catch be-
fore,” adds Kjartan Harðarson, who
completes the duo on the drums.
“Our goal was always to make ‘feel
music.’”
Both Maximilian and Kjartan
had been co-founders of the band
Draugsól, which released its crit-
ically-acclaimed de-
but album “Volaða
Land” in 2017. Seiz-
ing on their musical
chemistry, they set
out to do something
new and different
as Kaleikr. “We were
basically looking for
more profession-
alism in the music
making,” says Kjar-
tan. “We had a vision for a broader
spectrum of music. We wanted to
explore.”
A sonic concept
The result is an impressive mix-
ture, somewhere between black,
progressive, doom and death metal.
“The themes come from the mu-
sic,” says Maximilian. “The lyrics
were formed from the inspiration
that came from the music itself; the
mood that it gives.”
The songs are technically de-
manding to play, and they also take
their toll emotionally. “I would say
if you listen to this album twice in
a row, then you have some mental
strength,” Maximilian chuckles.
“I've had people tell me there’s so
much in it that they get mental fa-
tigue from listening to it. And that's
funny: because that's the theme of
the album.”
Checking the boxes
Kaleikr recorded “Heart of Lead”
at Studio Emissary with producer
Stephen Lockhart. It was one of the
goals they set themselves at the very
beginning. Another goal was to get
renowned graphic design studio
Metastazis—which has also done
work for Alcest, Lamb of God and
Sólstafir—to create their album
artwork.
“The last thing we needed was
a label,” Maximilian
recalls. “That just
magically fell into
our laps through our
connection with Ste-
phen. It was insane.
We feel really lucky,
even though it was
also a lot of work.”
After recording the
album, the band was
signed by Debemur
Morti Productions, which repre-
sents bands such as Blut aus Nord
and Archgoat.
Ascension
Kaleikr will make their live debut at
Ascension Festival in June this year
with a full live band. Three years in
the making, “Heart of Lead” will be
released on February 15th, which
would make it a perfect Valentine’s
Day gift. Right?
“It has the right colours, and
there is a big heart on the cover,”
Kjartan sniggers. Adds Maximil-
ian: “You can hide it in a flower
bouquet. I don't know what kind of
message you'd be sending to give
this to someone on Valentine's Day,
though. It's called “Heart of Lead.”
You're heavy, you're a burden, and
you’re poisoning… here you go. Hap-
py Valentine’s Day.”
Fun boys in nice ooats
“We had a
vision for a
broader spec-
trum of music.
We wanted to
explore.”
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