Kvelertak Release New Song “Crack of Doom” Featuring Mastodon’s Troy Sanders
On February 14, Rise Records will release Splid, Kvelertak’s best album since their acclaimed debut kicked off the last decade. You should be very, very, VERY excited for this album. Like. VERY excited.
The group has already offered a taste of the goods via the finest goddamn song about lumber fire ever written. Now they’ve released another single, “Crack of Doom,” featuring guest vocals by Mastodon’s Troy Sanders. The song, which is literally an anthem about destruction, will make you wanna engage in some serious destruction of property. The Stian Andersen-directed video, meanwhile, is both beautiful and creepy as fuck. It looks like someone took a bunch of unused nightmare sequences from Lars Von Trier’s Antichrist and arranged them into their own narrative.
And while I loathe to just cut-and-paste press releases, everything the band says in the one announcing “Crack of Doom” is so amusing I can’t bring myself to edit any of it:
“‘Ever heard of the Maya Apocalypse? Johannes Stöffler? Harold Camping? Are you afraid that the religious leaders, scientists, or the doomsday preachers may be right?,’ the band comments. ‘Have no fear! They were all wrong. But now, KVELERTAK has come to prophesize Ragnarok, straight into your heart and soul. The Crack of Doom shines on us all!’
“Regarding Sanders’ appearance on the track, the band says, ‘We sent Troy a demo of the song because there were a couple of parts we felt would fit his voice very well and lift the song. Luckily, he liked the track and was keen to do it. He got some scratch vocal tracks and some guidelines but was free to do it however he wanted. What we got back was even better than what we could hope for. We’re extremely proud to have him featured on this song, and with Troy being American, it felt natural to just do the whole thing in English.’
“Regarding the official video, [director Stian Andersen] and Lars state, ‘It has been an amazing experience and a privilege to assist in the baptism of Ivar Nikolaisen into the ranks of the band, and putting him through the torturous conditions of ice bathing in sub-zero temperatures, setting him on fire, galloping through the forest shirtless mid-winter, or hanging him upside down from a tree.’”
Love yourself: check out “Crack of Doom” below. And actually watch the video, don’t just hit “play” and then open another tab to take a Buzzfeed quiz while you listen or whatever.
Pre-order Splid here. Kvelertak have a string of European tour dates lined up for February and March; get their itinerary and buy tickets here. Mastodon have some U.S. festival appearances scheduled for this spring/summer; get their itinerary and buy tickets here.
