Seizures – Krampar (reviewed by The Night Writer)

If your knowledge of Icelandic music is limited to Björk (perhaps via The Sugarcubes) and Sigur Rós, then you might be pleased to know that there is more happing in the cold waters of the North Atlantic than quirky alt-pop and doom-ladened cinematics. Krampar is a band that trades in slightly shaded, alternative rock music that may be somewhat dark in delivery but is also full of deft blends of muscle and melody, poise and power, glorious riffs, clever, shifting musical dynamics and addictive grooves.

Seizures, incidentally, the English translation of their band moniker, is a fantastic collection of songs. Death Is Not Scary, Dying Is, proves to be a cool collection of spiralling riffs, heavy grooves and neat, philosophical lyricism. Grateful sees them blend their rock credentials with almost folky acoustica and F.Y.M. goes as far in the other direction, taking their hard rock sound to almost metal crescendoes but matching those sonic heights with understated lulls.

Draumar um Flug rounds the album off with an Icelandic language song that slowly burns its way from jaunty pop to anthemic rock, the perfect way to bow out, displaying the full range of the band’s sonic vision. If Krampar is an indication of the Icelandic rock scene, then we need more of this to find its way across the water, much more.