Halshug - Drøm

Halshug. At first, this doesn’t sound like anything sinister or bad. On the contrary. But then you type it into google translate and learn that it’s Danish for “to behead” – and it takes a turn for the darker side.

Halshug are a three-piece crust punk band from Copenhagen, Denmark. And if we know one thing about the Scandinavian countries, it’s that they know how to make heavy music. Think Martyrdöd, the crustcore outfit from Sweden. Solstafir, who call their music “Atmospheric Icelandic Rock and Roll”. Or bands like Children of Bodom, Ensiferum (both Finland), Mayhem (Norway), and Amon Amarth (Sweden), which brought the extremer forms of metal to a broader audience. And that’s just some names from a list of hundreds of heavy metal, black metal, grindcore and crust punk bands from Scandinavian countries.

I guess what I’m trying to say is: Halshug are in good company. And it’ s audible in their sound. The lyrics are all in Danish, so most listeners won’t understand what they’re singing about. But the first chord hits, and it pulls you in nonetheless. Halshug don’t try to reinvent the wheel, they don’t try to make their sound be different or special. And that’s both good and bad. Good, because it’s heavy, it’s fun, and it’s not pretentious or over the top. Think of crust classics like Doom, Concrete Sox, or Assück, combined with a singing style not far away from Keith Morris in OFF!. Bad, because even though it might the fun to listen to, the album as a whole is a bit samey. However, it has to be said that the boys have become more experimental when it comes to the dynamics of songs compared to their first two releases, Blodets Bånd and Sort Sind. They’ve moved away from straight d-beat, and explore dark wave and post-punk. And if you can speak Danish, you might even understand some of the lyrics, since the distortion is taken off them a bit. Ultimately, this album is a solid 8/10 and a very welcome development in the band’s young history. I’m excited to see where the next album will take us.