UK unpigeonholable heavy band Svalbard have announced a followup to 2020’s great When I Die, Will It Get Better?. It’s called The Weight Of The Mask and it’s due October 6 via Nuclear Blast (pre-order). Vocalist/guitarist Serena Cherry says:
If the previous record was about facing your demons, then The Weight of The Mask is about fighting them with everything you’ve got. You can literally hear the depression transform into aggression in these songs. The Weight of The Mask was admittedly a challenging album to make because we cut so deep this time around, it was a painful but ultimately cathartic process. This album is the sound of two years worth of internal darkness boiling away inside and then finally being unleashed.
The album includes recent single “Eternal Spirits,” as well as the just-released “Faking It,” a gorgeously heavy fusion of D-beating crust punk, atmospheric post-metal, caustic hardcore barks from Serena, and more. She says:
“Faking It” is a song about feeling deprived of meaningful human connection due to depression acting like a wall that shuts you off from others. It addresses the ways in which those who suffer with depression can feel guilted into putting on a happy mask. The lyrics are a reflection on happiness as a social obligation and how scarily good you can become at deceiving everyone around you into thinking that you’re fine when you’re not. With “Faking It,” we are both acknowledging the pressure for forced positivity, the fear that people won’t like you if you’re sad, and also questioning where the root of this intolerance towards depression lies.
This video leans on deliberately obvious binary oppositions to hammer home the message of the song. We have the glossy smiling shots, filmed in the fakest place we could find: The Selfie Factory; mixed with dark, expressive performance footage that represents the internal struggle within.
Listen and watch the David Gregory-directed video below.
The album was produced and mixed by past collaborator Lewis Johns, and it features artwork by Hestor Aspland, whom Serena has this to say about: “We have been huge fans of Hester Aspland’s Illustration since we saw her stunning artwork carved into a wooden table at our favorite metal bar, The Gryphon. The intricate, floral aspect of her artwork for The Weight of The Mask reflects the sonic beauty within our melodies. Then the bleaker animal skull mask symbolizes the lyrical content. Working with Hester was an absolute dream and we love the art she has created for us.” Check out the artwork and tracklist below.
Tracklist
01. Faking It
02. Eternal Spirits
03. Defiance
04. November
05. Lights Out
06. How To Swim Down
07. Be My Tomb
08. Pillar In The Sand
09. To Wilt Beneath The Weight