Album Review: Horisont - Sudden Death

I have written enough about the vintage rock revival that I don't want to take up a lot of space rehashing myself, so I'll try to sum it up in one sentence; Graveyard is amazing, Blues Pills and The Black Marbles each had one fantastic record, and everyone else is struggling to figure it out. That includes Horisont, who mine the past without ever striking gold. Despite sounding like an artifact of the past, their records have never stuck with me, and have never seemed as interested in developing their songwriting as developing their skills in mimicking the production choices of 1975.

This time, we actually move even further back in time. "Revolution" opens up the album with a total throwback to the days of The Beatles. From the piano that leads the track, to the harmonized vocals, to the textural guitars in the background, the song is entirely a pastiche of that period. It also happens to be more interesting than yet another band trying to play Zeppelin styled riffs without any of the power, so they are taking from the best. That's an improvement right there.

But the old issues pop back up not long after. "Pushin' The Line" is a typical up-tempo rocker, but the song doesn't really have a chorus hook to it. The verses blend right into what should be the crux of the song, and it sounds like two verses and a guitar solo. There isn't enough attention being paid to making sure the vocals and the songwriting are delivering something memorable. Like a lot of vintage rock, it all feels content on relying on the sound to do all the work, which is such a horrible decision.

Even when they don't deliver on that front, it's at least more tolerable when they step outside the usual rock format. "Into The Night" has a sax in the intro, and more pianos that add depth to the mix. Those details go a long way to elevating the song above its weaknesses in a way that just guitar/bass/drums isn't able to. There needs to be a part to focus on, and that is actually the piano, which opens up new tones and possibilities for the band.

Likewise, the dramatic turn taken by "Standing Here" sounds fresh and exciting. The band is finally realizing that classic rock is far more expansive a term than we often think about. Stretching your boundaries and exploring was a huge part of that, and those are the songs where Horisont are at their best. Adding something to the sound beyond the stereotype is everything to this record. That's the case with the Swedish-sung "Graa Dagar", which has more Beatles swagger and plenty of detailed instrumentation. It's one of the best songs Horisont has ever put together, which may be in part because they're more comfortable fitting melodies to their own language.

So we're left with a record that has a few pieces struggling to fit together. Their more experimental side, especially where the piano is present, is all good stuff. The songs that are more straight-forward rock are harder to get excited about. Horisont has never been a band with a lot of hooks to their music, so when they don't at least have the details to focus on, they can be a bit vanilla. Fortunately, they branch out more often than ever here, which makes this easily their best record. No, it doesn't reach the heights of Graveyard's classic trilogy, but I'm not expecting that. Horisont has finally taken a big step forward, so that should be commended.