Analysis of a musical work.

Recorded Work: Kvelertak - Mjød

Contents Introduction ...... 3 Semiotics ...... 3 Musical Analysis ...... 6 Conclusion ...... 8 Appendices...... 9 Appendix A – Mjød Timeline ...... 9 Appendix B – Rhythm ...... 11 Appendix C – Spatial Analysis ...... 12 References ...... 13

Introduction Kvelertak are a 6-piece band hailing from Stavanger, . Their debut, self-titled record was released on the first day in 2010 and since has gained much acclaim and brought the band to the attention of audiences worldwide.

This essay will focus on the first single from the record,’ Mjød’ and analyse it in terms of influence, structure, frequency, space, musicality and musical history, and in doing so, will reveal why it has been such a success in such a short span of time.

Semiotics

Classic musical elements Kvelertak are a six piece band. This means that aside from the standard rock band configuration of drummer, vocalist, and bassist, there are three guitarists. For a modern band playing this style of music, such an instrumental configuration is unexpected, especially considering there aren’t any overt audio cues present in the production of ‘Mjød’ that indicate the presence of a third guitar. This choice of instrumentation is a kind of homage to more classic rock and metal bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd or Iron Maiden that also used three guitarists to craft their sound. While Kvelertak haven’t written three separate guitar parts to highlight this fact, they do use it well to reinforce the pummelling “wall of sound” and locomotive momentum of the song.

Other, more obvious musical elements that are borrowed from much older, classic rock’n’roll artists are the use of a boogie woogie style series of staccato strikes of a single chord on a piano, handclaps and tamborine. Artists such as Jerry Lee Lewis used boogie woogie style musical elements usually in extended solo or chorus sections over a walking bass line also played on the piano, as can be heard on tracks like “Great Balls of Fire”, much like conventional heavy metal bands would introduce a guitar solo after the second chorus. While not as standout in the mix as a usual boogie woogie piano part such as this would normally be in a rock’n’roll song, it definitely gives the same uplifting feeling sitting behind the wall of guitars and driving drums. The handclaps and rock’n’roll style tamborine come in at the end, during the second repetition of the double chorus. This helps carry the song forward, and keeps the chorus part interesting by adding new elements.

Modern musical elements Mjød makes use of other musical elements that are not conventionally heard in rock’n’roll music. Following the very rock’n’roll sounding intro, with a vocal that, unless one intentionally went to research the lyrics sounds like a typical “one, two, three, four” count in, lead vocalist Erlend Hjelvik let’s out a high-pitched, guttural scream that he holds into the brief vocal solo that begins the first verse. Thereon throughout the song, all his vocalisations are variations on this style of delivery, which bear an overt similarity to the vocal styles of bands and vocalists such as Darkthrone and Mayhem. There is also an obvious black metal reference amongst the rock’n’roll in the instrumentation used in the song. Following the second verse, the song moves into a kind of solo section just before the final double chorus. The melodic movement is exactly the same as the verse that precedes it, however there is a higher register lead played from one of the guitars parts, and all three guitarists change from playing a syncopated rhythm in time with the drums to using fast, constant tremolo picking for the entirety of the progression. The drums themselves also change from a half-time rock groove with a snare hit on every second beat to a blast beat, with a snare hit in conjunction with a ride bell strike on each half-count, and a single kick drum strike in between. This type of extreme rhythmic and melodic relationship is very prevalent in 80’s and 90’s Norwegian black metal songs.

The only elements of the song that don’t follow a musical trend from a historical point of view and give it its own sense of originality are the two one bar musical rests that precede each verse. The first of these two rests features a vocal solo which introduces the lyrics to the first verse of the song. The second break features a single acoustic guitar which plays one bar of the verse melody which introduces the second verse. The use of acoustic guitar is of particular note as the rest of the song features heavily distorted guitars. It gives a sense of dynamic that differs from conventional rock’n’roll or metal in that, for an instant, it changes the instrumentation used to deliver the dynamic instead of relying on the performance or volume manipulation in the recording.

All three guitars are heavily distorted, which is indicative of a modern rock or metal song. However, because each is playing in standard tuning (EADGBE), the tone remains quite bright and isn’t overly bottom heavy or muddy. This prevents the wall of sound created by the three guitars and the distorted bass guitar from becoming confusing or confronting, and allows the other musical elements in the song to stand out where necessary.

Language and Lyrics Being a band based in Stavanger, Norway, Kvelertak share company with a group of similar sounding and metal bands such as Immortal, A-ha and Turbonegro that fairly consistently choose to write, record and publish their songs in English. Assumedly this is to make themselves more marketable to the bigger record companies based in English speaking countries such as America and the UK. However, Kvelertak have chosen to buck this trend by sticking to their native Norwegian dialect for all their current releases. This is significant considering how popular the band is becoming in the English speaking world, with Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl recently presenting the band with a gold record after sharing the stage together earlier this year, and British magazine Kerrang and Triple J radio’s punk and hardcore authority Stu Harvey naming their self titled debut album number six and two respectively in their top albums of 2010. The song title ‘Mjød’ literally translates to “mead”, the ancient viking drink of choice, and the lyrics of the song itself roughly translate to the following:

VERSE Now we’re gonna sing a little song, it’s about alcohol. We don’t have any lyrics like that, we want some spectrum.

Suttung (norse myth) followed close by, Odin kicked his ass. Suttung is not alive anymore, We have all the mead we want, Full of all this madness.

Going to light up a joint, Put on some black metal and enjoy it with my best friend.

CHORUS Odin gave us Suttung’s mead. The magical mead, Our daily bread.

Odin gave us Suttung’s mead. The magical mead, It’s better than beer.

So we’re going to fuck Odin’s widow while giving you awesome riffs Odin gave. See Kvelertak’s Order.

These lyrics present a fairly pragmatic, tongue-in-cheek attitude towards the musical influences that the band shamelessly flaunts, or more directly, towards the expectations that come from flaunting such influences. As a rock’n’roll band that makes use of black metal songwriting elements, one would expect the lyrical content to be of a darker, more serious nature. Seminal Norwegian black metal bands like Darkthrone typically write lyrics that evoke very dark imagery, even Norwegian rock’n’roll bands like Turbonegro, who write similarly party-themed songs still maintain a political edge to their lyrical content. Making reference to drinking alcohol, smoking drugs and having sex with a now ‘dead’ Norse god’s widow, while proclaiming a religious affinity (“our daily bread”) with an ancient viking drink is a far cry from any of these expected lyrical topics, given the musical influences that can be heard. Even Kvelertak’s frontman Erland Hjelvik said in an interview with Kerrang! Magazine’s Simon Young for an online podcast, in response to a question regarding if non- Norwegian speaking fans ever question what the lyrics are about, that “not as much Norwegian people who are asking what the lyrics are, I don’t think they understand it either” (Hjelvik, 2010). There aren’t many Norwegian bands that pay homage through their lyrical content to Norse mythology or the fabled Viking culture upon which the nation was supposedly built. In doing so, Kvelertak create a unique semiotic and musical profile for themselves, which also further deepens their overt musical connection to their Norwegian heritage.

In the chorus section of the song, the first words of each (“Odin ga oss “ or “Odin gave us...”) are sung by a group of vocalists in a low, chant-like vocal style. This creates a sharp dynamic against the high-pitched screeches of the remainder of the song, and makes a stylistic inference to ancient styles of Gothic chant. Even though there are no recorded examples of Viking song, from the examples in stories it would seem most likely that chanting was the Viking equivalent of singing (Short, p. 179). The use of this style of vocal delivery, both tonally and rhythmically, creates a cultural link to the history of the country the band hails from which in turn validates its use.

Musical Analysis The song follows a standard rock 4/4 timing, for a length of 80 bars at a tempo of 130bpm. The structure is as follows:

Pre intro - 8 bars

Intro - 8 bars

Guitar break - 4 bars

Pre verse - 4 bar

Vocal break - 1 bar Verse 1 – 15 bars

Chorus – 8 bars

Guitar break - 1 bar

Verse 2 –7 bars

Solo/Black Metal Verse – 8 bars

Double Chorus – 16 bars.

Coming in at a total of 2:31, it follows an A B A B A A form (Appendix A). The key used is C Major Augmented 5th , with the three guitars and bass guitar using standard tuning of E A D G B E. The entire song exists in C major, however in the verse riff beginning at bar 17, there is a G# used in the second chord of the melodic progression, which moves the key to C major Augmented 5th. The scale could also be an A Harmonic minor up until this point, however this doesn’t allow the use of a G natural and G#.

Lyrically, as stated above, there is no real narrative to the song, and as such the instrumentation and song structure are used purely as a musical device instead of conveying a story. In addition to this, in an interview with Kerrang! Magazine for an online podcast, vocalist Erland stated that “I think the most important thing for people is the music.” (Hjelvik, 2010). This means, especially for audiences or listeners that don’t understand or speak Norwegian, the vocals act more as an instrument, adding a stylistic element rather than giving the music meaning through lyrics.

The three guitar parts all follow the same melodic line throughout the song, and don’t seem to exhibit melodic cadences typical of rock music. The A section typically follows the chords A-C-A-G-D, which is vi-V-ii cadence, and the B section follows the chords A-D-C-A-D-C-F-C-D-G, which ends in a I-ii-V cadence. The A section ends on a deceptive cadence (V-ii), which would normally invoke a “hanging” feeling, like it should resolve to I. While it does give the feeling that there is more to come, that the song isn’t finished, it doesn’t make the song difficult to listen to, or misleading in any way. When the song finally does come to an end, the guitars all slide off at the end of the D chord which acts to put a full stop on the melodic progression, just as it does at the end of the first A section for the intro to the song. The B section ends on a half-cadence (ii-V), which interestingly is the exact opposite of the A section. This acts as a kind of ‘comma’ on the melodic progression, and because it is during the verses, indicates there will be a movement into the next section of the song. As stated Kvelertak have written the song around a 4/4 time signature. The rhythm is fairly consistently a half-time groove, with a snare strike on either every beat as in the intro, or second and fourth beat depending on the section of the song (Appendix B), with syncopated cymbal hits to punctuate the melodic progression and vocal structure throughout. Keeping such a simple rhythmic structure makes the song very easy to follow and enjoy. There is no challenge to the listener to keep up with changes that would detract from actually listening to what’s going on.

Conclusion After thoroughly analysing this track, it’s quite easy to see why it’s been such a success for the band in such a relatively short amount of time. The mix of influences from new to old, classic to extreme blend wonderfully to allow Kvelertak to deliver a forceful yet fun debut to the alternative music world. No one element or influence stands apart from the rest as strange or alien and the music itself doesn’t betray the history of any of these. The spatial configuration (Appendix C) lets each instrument sit in its own space, letting the mix breathe and allowing for a pleasurable listening experience, while at the same time delivering an aurally encompassing wall of sound like a punch to the face. It’s difficult to see anyone sitting down to listen to this track without nodding or tapping a foot in time to the rhythm, while at the same time wanting to trash the immediate area.

Appendices

Appendix A – Mjød Timeline Mjød Timeline

A (0:00.0)

Pre-Intro Bass and drums, simple 8 bars First bar just bass and drums Second bar with guitar chord struck to introduce movement into intro along with 1 bar vocal count into intro (0:00.0)

Intro Whole band intro - 8 Bars Same melodic progression as pre-intro includes harmonic accompaniment from piano, drum roll out of last bar indicates movement into next section (0:15.3)

B (0:30.2)

Bridge - Guitar Break 4 Bars Melodic change from intro Just guitar Introduces verse melody line (0:30.2)

Bridge - Crescendo 4 bars Same melodic progression as the guitar break Introduces more guitar layers as well as drums which crescendo over the continuing melody line from previous section. Drum fill indicating movement into next section (0:37.4)

Verse 1 16 Bars total Broken into 1 bar pre verse with 15 bars for the actual verse

(0:44.8)

Pre-Verse Screamed vocal introducing the first verse 1 Bar (0:44.8) Verse 15 Bars Same melodic progression as pre-verse Introduces driving beat, similar but with more groove than intro beat Vocals continue Short drum roll at the end signifying movement into Chorus (0:46.4)

▲ (1:13.4)

A (1:13.4)

Chorus I (1:13.4)

▲ (1:13.4)

Chorus I Chant style choral line - grouped vocals. 8 Bars. Shift in melody and rhythm but retains overall sense of rhythmic momentum. Drum roll in last measure signifying movement into next section (1:13.4)

▲ (1:13.4)

(1:28.4)

B (1:28.4)

Verse 2 8 Bars total Broken up into 1 bar pre-verse of just guitar and 7 bars of the actual verse (1:28.4)

Pre-Verse 1 Bar Identical melodic content to first guitar break, only half as long and played on an acoustic guitar. Gives a sense of dynamic and genre dissonance. (1:28.4)

Verse 4 Bars Same as verse one melodically Half as long Drum roll into next section

(1:30.3)

Solo 4 Bars Same bass line as verse Tremolo picked guitar in same melodic progression as verse rhythm but played an octave higher Blast beats on drums

Mimicing Black Metal Screeched vocal held over almost the entire section (1:42.9)

A (1:55.7)

Drum Fill - Bridge 1 Bar triplet feel drum feel over guitar feedback and sustained vocal

Breaks down the pace and momentum of the fast Black Metal style section preceding it, indicates movement into next section (1:55.7)

Double Chorus 16 Bars Same as first chorus Twice as long Second repeat introduces tamborine from intro and guitar lead that drones behind everything, raising in pitch through second measure. (1:57.4)

Appendix B – Rhythm

Intro rhythm – Hits on every beat.

B Section – Snre hits on 2 and 4

Appendix C – Spatial Analysis Left

Centre Right

Pre-Intro Intro Verse I Chorus I Verse II Solo Double Chorus

Guitar Break Guitar Pre-Verse Break Vocal Break Guitar Break Drum

Bass Guitar 3 Snare Piano Acoustic Guitar

Guitar 1 Main Vocal Kick Handclaps Rack Tom

Guitar 2 Backing Vocal Floor tom Tamborine

References

Kerrang! Reading festival podcast: Kvelertak, 2010, Video, viewed 16 September 2011, < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noLZIzHmzNU>

Kerrang!'s top 20 albums of 2010, viewed 16 September 2011,

Rosenberg, A. 2011, Kvelertak Kvelertranslated, viewed 20 September, 2011,

SFL best of 2010 listener poll results, viewed 20 September, 2011,

Stu Harvey’s top 10 of 2010, viewed 20 September, 2011,

Short, W.R. (2010). Icelanders in the viking age: The people of the saga. North Carolina: McFarland & Company, inc.