Efterklang / Piramida / Review

by marcopantella

Read it on Chasseur Magazine

Black Summer

A trip to Piramida is the inspiration of Efterklang’s latest record. The three childhood friends, drummer Thomas Husmer left the band in 2011, took a visit to an abandoned Russian mine and like a painter in front of a white canvas came back to recreate the isolation, decay, and frozen atmosphere of this landscape. The Danish band relocated in Berlin were a classical instrumental direction has been introduced to synthpop, indie-funk, and alternative folk elements.

Casper Clausen’s vocals are not only sadly melancholic but they immediately convey in the opener “Hollow Mountain” this emptiness  where bits of natural noises recorded on site during their trip have been turned into sounds, like metal spikes being struck, generating from an oil drum. It is a unique process and songs like “Sedna” and “Apples” are perfect examples of how subtly these noises melt into  instrumental arrangements even though the result is an obscure work that never pushes to any extreme sonorities or feelings. “Black Summer” is where everything flourishes with strings, marimba, brass, and a crescendo of the vocals that feels like a proud and sublime opposition to the dark title.

Elegant and unconventional but still difficult to access unlike their previous album “Magic Chairs”, “Piramida” is majestic in its concept but not breathtaking in its delivery. It is like a professional and objective reportage from miles away that will attract open minded listeners and indie-rock band Foals admirers.