It’s difficult to imagine that Svalbard would be able to better a release as emotionally raw as 2018’s ‘It’s Hard to Have Hope’, however, the Bristolian hardcore punk band have had two years to sharpen up on both their song writing and playing abilities and the end result is ‘When I Die, Will I Get Better?’; their third album and, without a shadow of a doubt, their best release yet. There’s a maturity and a self-assurance that’s prevalent throughout the record that we haven’t heard previously from them and it manifests itself in music that’s their most emotive and impactful yet.

Lead guitarist Serena Cherry’s riffs rend a more complex path through every track, intertwining with Liam Phelan’s rhythmic melodies to set a breakneck pace that cascades into shimmering, beautiful notes filtered through Mark Lilley’s metronomic percussion. It’s an audial representation of the luminescence of Alcest crashing together with the post-hardcore grit of mid-late 00s Converge to create something which is as beautiful as it is bleak. Serena’s cleanly sung vocals are more of a prominent feature on this album, meaning that when she does elevate her voice to a scream, lyrics such as “I am sick of being a target!” (‘Clickbait’) hit with twice as much force.

It’s difficult to pinpoint a seminal moment on ‘When I Die, Will I Get Better?’ as there few moments on this opus that don’t trigger goose bumps. Svalbard have never lacked passion or a poignant message, however, now that the music is on the same level they are a force to be reckoned with. If they aren’t a band that are currently on your radar, they should be, and this will for sure be the release that changes that.

(9/10 Angela Davey)

https://www.facebook.com/svalbarduk

https://svalbard.bandcamp.com/album/when-i-die-will-i-get-better-2