Review: KOLLAPS\E ‘Phantom Centre’
The backslash in KOLLAPS\E signifies a typographical mark used in computer programming, rather than English punctuation. Are the band computer boffins? I believe not and I’m guessing it was more than likely ‘borrowed’ from the final album of the same name by, sadly missed, Swedish post-hardcore legends Breach.
Hailing from Helsingborg, a coastal city in southern Sweden and the closest point to Denmark, the band are a four-piece consisting of Daniel Wallenborg – guitars/vocals, Peter Walefors – guitars, Dennis Åkesson – bass and Johannes Landgren – drums. Phantom Centre marks the band’s debut full-length following two singles and the self-explanatory The Pandemic Sessions EP.
Era starts with some pretty cool ‘70s style atmospherics laden with ambient drones and synths ala Tangerine Dream and Jean-Michel Jarre for the first fifty seconds or so; before launching into some pretty heavy crunching post-metal. It definitely has a driving feel and you could even say a progressive edge ala Elder and Burst. The track is nicely balanced with enough variation to keep one’s attention, a promising opener.
Beautiful Desolate doesn’t hang about and launches straight in from the off with some definite nods to the dynamics of Cult of Luna as well as the space-rock flourishes of bands such as Failure and Hum. The track’s title seemingly hints at the contrasting emotions and styles on offer, both gut wrenching raw ugliness and profound beauty simultaneously.
gut wrenching raw ugliness and profound beauty simultaneously…
Uhtceare, according to my research, is an old English word that means ‘to lie awake anxiously before dawn’, while the track is instrumental and the longest on the album at over eight and a half minutes. I have to say that I found the absence of vocals is what made for a such an all engrossing listen and helps evoke the void that follows early morning insomnia that all of us will have been afflicted by at one time in our lives. At the same time, if you were inflicted by such an issue, it would prove the perfect antidote. That might sound like damning with faint praise implying it inspires one to fall asleep but given the circumstances, it’s meditative qualities are exactly what the doctor would order. An absolute peach of a track.
The creepy beginning section of Anaemia reminds one of early Today is the Day before adopting some shades of vintage Neurosis to forge what is a more than a worthy follow-up to its epic predecessor. Bränt Barn Skyr Elden (Burnt Child Shuns Fire) refers to a proverb expressing the need of a hurt person to exercise greater caution and has a much more immediate post-hardcore vibe. It’s pretty darn slamming if I’m honest and demonstrates the Breach and Refused influences (coincidentally both bands were contemporaries from the Umeå hardcore scene) and makes for another personal favourite.
Radiant//Static is tasty and pretentious free post-metal/post-rock while Murrain, its follow-up, is a biblical term denoting a plague or pestilence, something we have certainly had bitter experience of the past couple of years. This track, along with Radiant//Static, featured on the aforementioned The Pandemic Sessions and is possibly the most aggressive sounding number on here. It concludes the album on an unapologetically nasty sludgy note.
Bossman Shaman Lee joked about my decision to take on Phantom Centre given my well-publicized distaste of post-metal. He’s right, my feelings about the genre have always been that I tend to find it overlong, pompous and unengaging for the most part. However, KOLLAPS\E thankfully are a different kettle of fish, with tracks of a reasonable length and enough diversity to satisfy even the most cynical and jaded of music journalists such as myself.
Label: Trepanation Recordings
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram
Scribed by: Reza Mills
