How do you keep up to date with new music? I have the luxury of being a reviewer. I’m informed on a constant basis (and get to cherry pick the releases I wish to review. Seriously, I love this job!), but next to that I keep an eye out for certain labels. There’s a couple of labels that are very interesting to follow, either because the label is right up your alley or because you know they only release high quality music or simply because you like the people behind a label perhaps. Alerta Antifascista is one such label. I dig a lot of artists on their roster.The label has a knack for attracting dark and heavy music with a strong message. And that ticks all the right boxes for me. So I decided it was time to reach out and contact them about one of those releases. You’ve guessed it, this one… It’s the crust description that lured me in. I am in a mood for some d-beat work-outs.
Let’s have a look at this release. Myteri is a Swedish band that self-released this album way back in a time that we now know as “the past” or, if you insist on the numerical way of telling time: 2015. 2016 saw the release on CD and now, in 2017, finally, the album is released on vinyl. So these songs have been released three times now, and some of them even four times. A couple of these tunes were recorded earlier as a demo.
But enough about that, let’s listen to what this album has to offer. Everything starts of with a post-metal intro, the kind where there’s some spoken parts over some slow and moody guitar parts. But then… all hell breaks loose with “Bakom Stängda Dörrar”, the first real track. This song made me contemplate on biases. Why, you ask? Well, the band hailing from Sweden raised expectations regarding their sound. Expectations that were not met, as the start of this song, and the drums especially, gave me flash-backs to “Conflicting Ideas”, the opening track to Vengeance, the second album by Tragedy. This is the album that got me listening to crust. My jaw dropped to the floor the first time I heard this song. Myteri doesn’t have that impact though. The album continues with songs incorporating influences by the usual suspects when it comes to this slightly more melodic crust.
But the band has another surprise up it’s sleeve. I suspect they have listened to some Spanish crust as wel. There’s some heavy ICTVS riffs hidden in a couple of songs to spice things up. The production is fitting for this type of music. Crispy clear, but with a heavy and dirty edge. I suspect the band has a strong message, but I couldn’t tell you for sure. For one a lot of the lyrics are sung in Swedish and second, the vocals are spat out with such vigor and anger that they are probably indecipherable. This adds power, but in the long run this might get boring. Not on this album though, as the album is kind of short. The band made a wise decision I think. There’s one downside: the outro is just not right. It’s way too long and boring. It doesn’t work and is a bit of a downer after eight excellent crusty tracks. In the end I think this is a nice debut from these Swedes. They don’t bring anything new to the table, but this is very well executed crust.
