It seems like genre definitions change based on the era. I swear people were calling Sonic Youth post-punk for a while, but nowadays the tag seems to apply to a dystopian style with distant-emotionless vocals. Of course, genre is a tricky beast. It’s often useful for description and concept, but some artists fall into the trap a little too deep. Iceland’s BÖRN is an exception to this.
I hear those mechanical beats (via live human drumming) and cold tones, but Drottningar Dauðans is all about the human element. Instead of relying on subtle flourishes, the vocals seethe with emotion, twisting and turning through a nightmare but never waking up. While a lot of post-punk feels like a grayscale sci-fi world, Drottningar Dauðans is set in Technicolor, overwhelming the human elements rather than camouflaging them in monotony. Instead of hypnotic, droning beats, it’s haunting -- practically clawing – in search of a way out of its artificial confines.
In line with the vocals, the guitar winds through the journey, while the bass gives an eerie moodiness. The rhythm section holds this together, giving structure to a paranoid concept that delicately balances chaos with direction. At times, BÖRN kicks up the bass drum and buzzsaw Big Black guitar tones and we descend into madness, but it’s always confined just enough that it never fully spirals out of control.
This is moody music for moody times. As the final song, “Böðull,” runs its course, you aren’t left with a soothing resolution, just that whirring anxious beat still pulsing in your head…and your heart.
