Svalbard
When I Die, Will I Get Better?

4.5
superb

Review

by Stormy Smiley Face USER (114 Reviews)
September 27th, 2020 | 55 replies

Release Date: 2020 | Tracklist

Review Summary: A vital album in 2020 that can compete for album of the year.

When I Die Will I Get Better opens up as if it's at the soaring heights of some magnum opus that sounds like a weird mix of old Hopesfall, 2016 Astronoid, and newer Rolo Tomassi. First song Open Wound gushes sound all over the place and contains a pressure of atmosphere that bursts in pockets of ambitious as well as genre bending fast paced music. Will I Get Better feels very influenced, but also committed to be better than whomever it is Svalbard looks up to. Vocally the album is working with a ton of depth and styles. The album contains soaring 'ahhhs' before mid-pitched screams come in, leading to other vocal styles that add to a perfectly textured post-hardcore/shoegaze/alt-metal/hardcore amalgam. The greatest part of the vocals here is how matured they sound. There is no whininess to this despite all of the heartfelt emotion pouring out of lyrics that are serious and well written.

"I will not cower, I want for no shield, I am open like a wound to replace the fragments of myself with you, I will bear the scars of the fool… are you done playing rough? This hurts too much to be love" -Open Wound

People that adore how Rolo Tomassi engulf a song with their sounds might come to find Svalbard can rival them and people who loved the shrieking screams of early No Wings To Speak Of Hopesfall are treated here as well. In a way it could be argued this album is trying to unite everyone who loves all the cult classic subgenres of hardcore and metal in one playthrough and it doesn't struggle with the responsibility. The guitar work is entrancing much like an Astronoid album, but could also have been inspired by Hum in slower parts. To treat this album with kid gloves would be wrong as it is possibly an album of the year contender despite the small amount of fanfare it seems to be getting upon release. If enough people hear this it is guaranteed to be a huge success for Svalbard, but unmistakably is creatively successful in leaps and bounds. When I Die Will I Get Better simply needs to find people to give it a chance because the character is strong and what the album has to say is even stronger.

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