{"id":63764,"date":"2018-05-29T16:00:32","date_gmt":"2018-05-29T15:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=63764"},"modified":"2018-05-28T22:21:38","modified_gmt":"2018-05-28T21:21:38","slug":"review-svalbard-its-hard-to-have-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-svalbard-its-hard-to-have-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Svalbard – It’s Hard to Have Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>On their debut full length \u2018One Day All This Will End\u2019<\/i>, Bristol quartet Svalbard<\/b> fused their collective hardcore, post-rock and black metal influences into a cohesive work of aggression spaced out by melodic breaks and atmospheric build-ups. Naturally, second album,\u00a0\u2018It\u2019s Hard to Have Hope\u2019<\/i> plays on these strengths, but there are a far more urgent tone and frantic energy in its delivery.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a reason for this franticness. Pro-feminist declaration has always embodied Svalbard\u2019s<\/b> lyrics in a suggested sense, but on \u2018It\u2019s Hard to Have Hope\u2019<\/i>, misogyny, sexual assault at gigs and women\u2019s reproductive rights are approached head on and at great length. “You call me a feminazi, and I\u2019ll call you ignorant,”<\/em>\u00a0vocalist Serena Cherry proclaims on \u2018Feminazi?!\u2019<\/i> with the spite of someone who\u2019s had too many losers tell her she\u2019s overreacting.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=6PisDsQgviQ<\/p>\n

Most harrowingly, Cherry\u2019s personal recollection of sexual harassment at a gig is chillingly reflected on \u2018How Do We Make It Stop\u2019<\/i> (“<\/em>I dare not cross off the crowd that tried to touch between your legs”)<\/i>. It\u2019s a song that provokes thought and empathy towards women who have experienced such treatment while trying to watch the bands they love. In a genre that prides itself on unity and inclusion for all, a song this urgent is a bitter pill to swallow.<\/p>\n

Plenty more topics encompass \u2018It\u2019s Hard to Have Hope\u2019<\/i>, from the suffering of designer dog breeds (\u2018For the Sake of Breed\u2019<\/i>) to the mistreatment of young workers (\u2018Unpaid Intern\u2019<\/i>), but the message is one that defies hopelessness and demands change. Punctuated by intense metal arrangements built on blast beats, hardcore shredding and harmonious lead passages, tracks like \u2018Pro-Life?\u2019<\/i> and instrumental closer \u2018Iorek\u2019<\/i> reach triumphant climaxes that prove Svalbard\u2019s<\/b> message. There is hope and beauty at the end of these dark times, but we need to keep pushing towards it.<\/p>\n

4.5\/5<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s Hard to Have Hope\u2019<\/i> by Svalbard<\/b> is out now on\u00a0Holy Roar Records.<\/b><\/p>\n

Svalbard<\/b> links: Facebook<\/a> | Twitter<\/a> | Instagram<\/a> | Bandcamp<\/a><\/p>\n

Words by Andrew Davidson (@AndyrfDavidson<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On their debut full length \u2018One Day All This Will End\u2019, Bristol quartet Svalbard fused their collective hardcore, post-rock and black metal influences into a cohesive work of aggression spaced out by melodic breaks and atmospheric build-ups. Naturally, second album,\u00a0\u2018It\u2019s Hard to Have Hope\u2019 plays on these strengths, but there are a far more urgent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":63767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[94,15415,2758],"class_list":["post-63764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-holy-roar-records","tag-its-hard-to-have-hope","tag-svalbard"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nReview: Svalbard - It's Hard to Have Hope - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On their debut full length \u2018One Day All This Will End\u2019, Bristol quartet Svalbard fused their collective hardcore, post-rock and black metal influences\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review: Svalbard - 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