New Release November 2020: The End present Allt Är Intet
“Everything really came together on this record. It’s still rough and dark, but I think we deal with the lyricism on a totally different level. The band consists of a very interesting mix of people, and the mix of brutal riffs and free jazz melodic material is for me a dream come true. I like simple, Neanderthal music too, but this has so many complex layers.”
Mats Gustafsson
The English translation of Allt Är Intet is “All Is Nothingness” – an apt enough title for a band already possessed of the scorched earth sonic tendencies and nihilist-leaning name of The End. Yet there’s some ambiguity to that philosophy; the most bleak and despairing interpretation can be countered by a more all-embracing, one-with-the-universe meditativeness.
Perhaps surprisingly, either conclusion proves to fit Allt Är Intet, the remarkable second full-length album by The End, due out October xx via RareNoise Records. The powerhouse international quintet is made up of Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson (Fire!, The Thing), Norwegian saxophonist Kjetil Møster (Møster!, Zanussi 5), Ethiopian-born vocalist Sofia Jernberg (Fire! Orchestra, PAAVO), Norwegian guitarist Anders Hana (MoHa!, Ultralyd), and Norwegian drummer Børge Fjordheim (Cloroform).
Anyone familiar with these boundary-leaping musicians’ work is familiar with their throttling ferocity and ability to stretch their music into brutal extremes with focused intensity, as evidenced throughout The End’s audacious 2018 debut, Svarmod Och Vemod Är Värdesinnen (which featured Deerhoof drummer Greg Saunier in lieu of Fjordheim).
But their follow-up, preceded by a 2 track Vinyl EP, Nedresa, achieved after two years of continued exploration together, strikes an exhilarating balance between its predecessor’s blistering maelstroms and a more densely layered and haunting beauty.
The exciting balance of diverse influences and cogent spirit makes Allt Är Intet feel like the work of a firmly united yet limitless group, which The End has undoubtedly become.
“We all have varied and polarized tastes and quite inverted sides. Mats can play extremely subtle and articulated, but he can also be a storm. Sofia has an incredible soul and presence but also can generate these wild sounds. We all have very opposite sides in us but we manage to bring them together in a way that feels good for all of us.”
Kjetil Møster
Release date : 13th November 2020
Sofia Jernberg – Voice
Kjetil Møster – Tenor Sax, Clarinet and Electronics
Mats Gustafsson – Baritone Sax, Flute and Live Electronics
Anders Hana – Baritone Guitar and Langeleik
Børge Fjordheim – Drums
1. It Hurts Me Too
2. Dark Wish (To Per Henrik Wallin)
3. Intention And Release
4. Allt Är Intet
5. Kråka. Rörde Sig Aldrig Mer.
6. Imani
Track 1 Trad. Via Karen Dalton
Track 2 composed by Gustafsson
Track 3 by Møster
Tracks 4 and 5 by Hana
Track 6 by Dewey Redman (DewRed/Ascap)
Lyrics on Tracks 2 and 4 by Gustafsson
Lyrics on Track 3 by Møster
Tracks 2-5 Published by RareNoisePublishing (PRS)
Recorded by Jørgen Træen on Nov. 13-15 2019 at Elektrolüd, Stavanger
Mixed and Mastered by Jørgen Træen June 2020 at Duper Studio, Bergen
Produced by THE END and Jørgen Træen
Executive Producer for RareNoiseRecords: Giacomo Bruzzo
Art by Edward Jarvis “Allt Är Intet” (All Is Nothingness), 2018
Text by Gunnar Ekelöf, www.edwjar.com
Design by Drid Machine
Band Photos by Petra Cvelbar
Additional Photography by Sissel Kate Davies
© + ℗ RareNoiseRecords 2020
