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Lifelover: Konkurs

09/12/10 || Khlysty

Interesting little band, these Lifelover guys. Really. I mean, me being almost entirely indifferent to the hype that covers like droplets of shit the life and times of one Niklas Kvarforth and his Shining project, I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed the perfectly acceptable popishness of Lifelover’s approach towards depressive black metal. And, if I compare these two bands, that’s because a) they’re both Swedish, b) they’re both supposed to be great proponents of “suicidal” and “depressive” black metal and c) to my ears, they both sound like they’re trying to create a really user-friendly type of approach to said genre.

In my opinion, where Lifelover obviously beat the shit out of Shining is in their clearly defined sense of melody, hooks and catchiness of their music. If one subtracts the somewhat out-of-place wailing and angst-ridden-spoken-word vocals, one’s left with perfectly composed and performed pop songs that have every vital element to become true crossover hits. For example, “Brand”, even though produced in a way that makes it sound grimier than it really is, is an anthemic rock song that wouldn’t be out of place in, e.g., an early Alarm or The Mission record. Actually most of the songs remind me of the time that I delved into pop-goth bands, before admitting that I very much prefer old Sisters Of Mercy E.P.s than the bloated works of The Mission.

Anyway, to return to the task at hand, that is, reviewing “Konkurs” (incidentally, it’s supposed to mean “Liquidation” in Swedish), the band displays wonderful ear for details and smart ideas (just listen to the perfectly-out-of-place-but-perfectly-placed oriental guitar line in “Cancertid” or in “Narcotic Devotion”, or the omnipresent, clear and jangly piano lines) and each and every song contained here is a perfectly composed pop gem that was smeared with enough grime and lo-fi buzzing during the recording process, so as to justify its categorization as black metal. Beautiful is a word that’s not supposed to be associated with said genre, but, fuckitalltohell if these songs aren’t catchy and beautiful. And don’t even start me on the matter of the incongruously nutzoid samples that are found at the end of most of the songs.

I have to admit that, even though the songs don’t seem especially demanding or technically-inclined, the band executes them with tightness and flair. I think that if I could understand the lyrics, I would be able to justify the characterization of “depressive” that the band has been saddled with. Unfortunately, they choose to “sing” most of their lyrics in an obscure and almost out-of-use language (I’ve been informed that it’s called “Swedish”…), so I cannot make heads or tails of what their vocalist seems to be so upset about. Seriously, though, I think that the vocals are the only thing that stops me from giving “Konkurs” a higher grade than the…

I grace it with, since they seem too OTT for my liking. Anyway, bottom line here is that Lifelover presents us with a perfectly listenable and totally catchy slab of popishly-infused black metal. “Konkurs” is one hell of an enjoyable record and I suggest that you should sample it A.S.A.P.

Information
Released: 2008
Label: Avantgarde Music
Website: Lifelover MySpace
Band
( ): vocals, speech, guitar, lyrics
B: vocals, speech, guitar, piano, lyrics
H.: guitar
Fix: bass
1853: speech, lyrics

Tracklist
01. Shallow
02. Mental Central Dialog
03. Brand
04. Cancertid
05. Konvulsion
06. Twitch
07. Narcotic Devotion
08. Alltid – Aldrig
09. Stängt p.g.a Semester
10. Original
11. Bitter Reflektion
12. Mitt Annexia
13. Spiken I Kistan
14. En Tyst Minut

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