People growing up in the internet age have access to a wider range of musical styles than ever before. As a result of that, at least in part, music scenes have become less tribal — artists and fans don’t cling on so doggedly to one style and are often comfortable to extol, say, Napalm Death and Billie Eilish in the same breath.

Norway’s Blood Command exemplify this modern-day melting pot of disparate influences better than any other band I can think of. The press release for Praise Armageddonism (Hassle Records) their fourth full-length in twelve years, mentions influences as wide-ranging as Blondie and At The Drive-In and references disco, hardcore punk and alt-pop. Thematically, the band draw on current socio-political issues as well as often referencing the Heaven’s Gate cult that ultimately led to a mass suicide in the 90s.

So, how do Blood Command distill this smorgasbord of ostensibly incompatible elements into a coherent record? Well, the truth is that I find it difficult to make sense of this album. At one moment vocalist Nikki Brumen is screaming out anarchic punk poetry over breakneck hardcore riffs, at the next the band shift into emotional pop-punk mode with autotuned vocal harmonies, and then we’re plunged straight into a funky synthpop section with sugarcoated bubblegum backing vocals. At some points the music would fit on a Svetlanas album, and at other times it’s closer to something Avril Lavigne might release. It’s almost always heavy — chock-full of exhilarating riffs and thundering drums, but the way it veers from crushing post-hardcore to radio-friendly disco punk and anything else in between often feels mismatched.

Throughout Praise Armageddonism Blood Command’s performances are exemplary — Brumen’s voice radiates vicious energy and shifts effortlessly between earsplitting howl and sweet melody, and the band are ultra-tight even on the most technically demanding sections (as exemplified by the turbocharged math-rock of ‘Everything You Love Will Burn’). 

The production is also excellent, retaining a pleasing balance between punk scuzziness and modern rock clarity and punchiness. The use of autotune feels over-the-top to me a lot of the time, but I’m sure the effect is intentional, and it’s relatively mild compared to a lot of modern pop vocals. 

Praise Armageddonism is also full of moreish melodic lines and clever arrangements — heavy punk riffs and fuzzy basslines are often augmented by a plethora of intricate guitar lines and additional parts including synths and even a saxophone at one point.

With Praise Armageddonism, Blood Command have created a record that is both eminently accessible and brutally heavy, and that incorporates a wide range of stylistic influences that I haven’t heard put together in this way before. There probably aren’t many other records, or bands, that sound like this. For me, the end result is a little confusing and unconvincing — the mesh of styles just doesn’t quite hang together and the gear shifts are off-putting. I have no doubt, however, that the elements that didn’t work for me are exactly what a lot of people like about Blood Command, and that their ever-growing fanbase — literate in this stylistic lexicon as I’m sure they are — will welcome Praise Armageddonism.

Buy the album here: https://bloodcommand.bandcamp.com/album/praise-armageddonism

6 / 10

DUNCAN EVANS