Review Summary: Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
…And it’s not the plots that linger within Hamlet’s kin. Rather, it’s the unknown punk/noise deliberations that seem to have taken their toll within the ranks of the Danes Alucarda and their refreshing take on occult rock. Theoretically, the homogeneous union of the previously mentioned aesthetics feels like out of place, especially since all founding and revival practitioners of occult rock are firmly rooted to ‘70s classic/heavy rock. Alucarda might have gone a few steps further from their peers, possibly without realizing they have done so; They have combined the mutual love of the entire Scandinavian Peninsula for all things punk and noise, with the raw energy firstly transmitted by acts such as MC5, Iggy Pop and The Stooges, and the occult rock’s die-hard praise of the angel of light.
Things are pretty simple in terms of arrangements. Some songs are distinguished by subtle variations of the same riff, manifested at the beginning of each song, but fortunately, the album does not cause multiple yawns as a result of dead-end repetition. Alucarda have this tremendous surplus of (punk) energy slipstreamed in their material, and along with the ultra-noisy sound production (the bass is quite audible at places though…), they provide a generous compensation for the lack of diversity, song-structures-wise. Moreover, when the said energy is directed towards the ‘70s heavy/doom rock groove, the result is highlights like “Witches Dance” or the album closer, the instrumental “Deadbeat Psych-Out” which the author of this review is terribly fond of. Last but not least, a key factor to the album’s emphatic delivery is the genuine non-musicality of the vocals, which pay an excellent homage to the punk rock tradition, while delving into heavy rock to an equal extent.
If anything, Alucarda’s is a non-trivial addition to the back catalogue of a genre that’s sat a bit too long on its legacy, and a slow burner that needs to be discovered by occult rock enthusiasts, retro rock die-hards, and punk kinds that enjoy their fair share of heavy rock every once in a while.
