Review KVAEN “The Formless Fires”

Kvaen is the blackened brainchild of Jacob Björnfot. The multi-instrumentalist hails from Kalix in the north of Sweden, close to the Finnish border. Björnfot launched this solo project in 2019, and even with a pandemic in between, the latest album ‘The Formless Fires’ is already the Swede’s third release.

Having signed a deal with Metal Blade Records, Kvaen has a great opportunity to reach a wider audience and what “The Formless Fires” has to offer has the potential to live up to expectations.

Kvaen’s new effort contains nine songs, blackened metal songs that are presented with a lot of intensity. Tracks like the dark anthem “Tornets Sång” are a good indication of what the album has to offer. Fascinating rhythms, hoarse vocals and great riffing combined with a diabolical sense for melodies, this is what the songs offer and it actually sounds pretty good. And then there is the furious “Basilisk”, a song about the king of serpents. Enriched by a well-executed guitar solo, the song opens the gates of hell.

Alongside all the heaviness of the sound, the album also shows a passion for more melodic guitar lines and solos. This fusion results in music that is interesting for fans of blackened metal as well as fans of more traditional sounds will find some rewarding moments. One of these is the atmospheric ‘The Perpetual Darkness’, a hymn inspired by mythology.

And not to forget “De Dödas Sång”, which is a song with a lot of references to more traditional heavy metal besides the nagging vocals. There are some moments of increased speed, while most of the song is kept at a moderate pace. Lyrically the song is related to an old ritual from the north. Elderly people jump into the abyss to their own death. This fatal ritual is the inspiration for the song, with the music capturing the emotional and fatal impact in a good way.

With “The Formless Fires” Kvaen release a well forged metal record that opens the portal to another world based on the connection to mythology. Good craftsmanship when it comes to the music and a good narrative element when it comes to the lyrics, that is what the new Kvaen album is all about.