Earlier this year, Svalbard shared a track called ‘Eternal Spirits’. Today the metal quartet have revealed details of their new album. It’s titled ‘The Weight Of The Mask’ and will be released through Nuclear Blast on October 6th.
“You can literally hear the depression transform into aggression in these songs”
Never a band afraid to hold back, their fourth full-length aims to unite people in their darkest times, living with mental illness and depression.
“If the previous record (‘When I Die, Will I Get Better?’) was about facing your demons, then ‘The Weight of The Mask’ is about fighting them with everything you’ve got,” explained Svalbard‘s Serena Cherry. “You can literally hear the depression transform into aggression in these songs. ‘The Weight of The Mask’ was admittedly a challenging album to make because we cut so deep this time around, it was a painful but ultimately cathartic process. This album is the sound of two years worth of internal darkness boiling away inside and then finally being unleashed.”
Here are the full details of Svalbard’s new album – ‘The Weight Of The Mask’
1 Faking It
2. Eternal Spirits
3. Defiance
4. November
5. Lights Out
6. How To Swim Down
7. Be My Tomb
8. Pillar In The Sand
9. To Wilt Beneath The Weight
Alongside being available on CD and digital formats, ‘The Weight Of The Mask’ will be pressed on two vinyl variants; Crystal Clear w/Black Marble, and Purple w/Black Splatter (band exclusive).
Fans can pre-order/pre-save the album here.
Watch and Hear Svalbard’s new single – ‘Faking It’
Alongside the announcement of ‘The Weight Of The Mask’, Svalbard have shared a new track called ‘Faking It’. Both the track and video captures the feeling of needing to put on a front when you’re dealing with depression.
‘Faking It’ is a song about feeling deprived of meaningful human connection due to depression acting like a wall that shuts you off from others. It addresses the ways in which those who suffer with depression can feel guilted into putting on a happy mask,” commented Cherry on Svalbard‘s new single. “The lyrics are a reflection on happiness as a social obligation and how scarily good you can become at deceiving everyone around you into thinking that you’re fine when you’re not. With Faking It, we are both acknowledging the pressure for forced positivity, the fear that people won’t like you if you’re sad and also questioning where the root of this intolerance towards depression lies.”
You can view the video for ‘Faking It’ below.
‘Faking It‘ lyrics
There is an incredulousness
That accompanies my depressed existence
It asks how on earth I am getting through this
So how on earth am I getting through this?
The question repeats and repeats
I stare blankly in disbelief
How am I standing?
How am I alive?
How am I making it seem like it’s fine?
The question repeats and repeats
Staring blankly in disbelief
At pictures of me
And I wonder, who is this?
I don’t recognise that smile
How is it so convincing?
I don’t recognise that life
Inside it feels like I am dying
It’s weird to know I wasn’t happy
That’s just how I made it seem
An illusion of positivity
I will never live up to these lies
I will never be worth your time
I don’t feel joy
I just fake it
I don’t feel hope
I just fake it
I don’t feel love
I just fake it
I don’t feel real
Nothing is sacred
Where can I see Svalbard in the UK?
At present, Svalbard‘s has two UK shows lined up.
First, they’ll be appearing at next month’s ArcTanGent Festival. This will be followed up by a headline show at the Key Club in Leeds on October 21st.
