Light at the End of the Tunnel: Svalbard on Returning to the Road
Wednesday, 09 March 2022
Written by Matt Mills
Photo: Tony Fenn
It’s really, really easy for a metal band to point at something and go, “That’s bad.” It’s been a cornerstone of the genre since Black Sabbath lamented the Vietnam war during War Pigs and Iron Maiden killed Margaret Thatcher on their artwork in the early ‘80s. It’s much more special for a metal band to point at something and go, “That’s bad—how do we make it better?”
This is the camp that Svalbard fall into. Since debuting in 2015, the Bristol four-piece haven’t just been savaging contemporary issues from unpaid internships to domestic abuse; they’ve been screaming for the perpetrators to sort their shit out.
They’ve penned songs like Listen to Someone: a post-hardcore call for more compassion towards mental health. “Don’t tell me it’s OK to not be OK, then wince at every word I say,” the band’s vocalist and lead lyricist, Serena Cherry, howls. Meanwhile, on the anti-victim-blaming What Was She Wearing?, she roars, “Showing flesh does not deserve shaming.”
However, as she talks with Stereoboard over Zoom in late February, Serena’s currently facing an enemy that not even the angriest of music can overcome. The singer/guitarist and her bandmates should be traipsing across Europe right now, supporting post-metal titans Cult of Luna and Alcest. Covid had other ideas though. And, although Svalbard are on the cusp of a headlining UK run to partially recover from the setback, Serena admits she finds herself “lost”.
“Playing live shows has always been the light at the end of the tunnel; it’s my reason to live,” she unloads. “It’s been very hard-hitting realising that this can’t be the thing I rely on at the moment, because it’s logistically not viable. I feel a bit lost about the future, but I’m hoping things will get better.”
Svalbard’s impending shows are technically in support of their third album, ‘When I Die, Will I Get Better?’, despite it being 18 months old. The good news is that that time hasn’t dulled how essential a masterpiece it is. Split between post-metal bliss and apoplectic hardcore, ‘When I Die…’ could equally soundtrack life’s joyous highs and crushing lows.
First track Open Wound is delicate Alcest worship that plummets into roaring and riffs, while Click Bait is anchored around punkish yells of “Fuck off!” Remove Serena’s shouts from the mix and Silent Restraint could easily pass as a shoegaze piece. Also consider the introspective lyrics, which tackle domestic abuse, online sexism and objectification, and you get perhaps the most powerful British metal album in a generation. But, it’s a triumph that took a heavy toll.
“I was really depressed [when writing ‘When I Die…’],” Serena reflects. “Writing Svalbard lyrics is the hardest part of being in Svalbard. It’s like ripping my own skin off and having my heart on display for everyone to see. I’m writing about personal experiences or sociological issues; everything that I write about is something that has deeply affected me. It’s like leaving a diary open for anyone to read; it’s a process that’s as painful as it is cathartic.”
Svalbard had already finished making ‘When I Die…’ when the UK went into lockdown in March 2020. The band had planned on filling their summer with high-profile festival sets, including one at the 130,000-capacity Roskilde weekender in Denmark, before everything was cancelled.
Ever the workaholic, Serena used the downtime to write a black metal solo album called ‘Wretched Abyss’ under the pseudonym Noctule. The songs’ exploration of the fantasy universe depicted in the Elder Scrolls games proved a much-needed break from Svalbard’s distressingly real subject matters.
“Noctule is an escape for me; it’s a celebration of a world in a game that I love,” Serena says. “It was a really deliberate choice to go, ‘I’m not going to talk about anything to do with me on this record.’ The only emotion on the album is how much I love the dungeons in Skyrim.”
Svalbard officially announced ‘When I Die…’ in July 2020. Holy Roar Records—the band’s home since their debut—would once again be distributing it. However, label founder Alex Fitzpatrick was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women online in early September: just three weeks before the scheduled release date. Bands and staff alike, including Svalbard, left the label en masse, although Fitzpatrick has since denied all allegations.
“I genuinely contemplated quitting music when the allegations broke,” recalls Serena. “It broke my heart to think that there are people who have worked closely with Svalbard and know we are a feminist band, loud and proud, and are capable of committing such abuse to women. It felt so incredibly two-faced; I felt fooled.”
Fortunately, Svalbard immediately leapt over to Church Road Records: the imprint run by Justine Jones and Sammy Urwin of hardcore heroes Employed to Serve. The original release date was upheld thanks to a herculean effort, and ‘When I Die…’ was quickly received as one of the best metal albums of 2020.
Due to the pandemic, the first show supporting it wasn’t until August 2021. However, it was a biggie; Svalbard played the main stage of the 20,000-capacity Bloodstock festival in Derbyshire. Serena admits, “Stepping back into the [live music] experience on the biggest stage we’ve ever played was super, super daunting and nerve-racking. I didn’t sleep for a week beforehand because I was so nervous.”
When asked about the future, Serena returns to the same conflicted mindset that she has for this impending headline tour. On the one hand, live music’s back; she’s also laying the foundation for a second Noctule album. “It’s all about Sovngarde in the Skyrim game,” she divulges. “It’s going to be choral black metal. I’m going for that kind of hymnal approach, layering loads of clean vocals on top of each other: a layer of melody rather than [traditional] vocals.”
On the other, there’s the looming threat of Covid. And Brexit fucking over European tours. And the fact that the world in general is a bit shit right now. As Serena herself once surmised, it’s hard to have hope—but she’s not been beaten yet. “I’m hoping things will get better,” she reiterates. “I think the word is actually ‘impatient’. I’m impatient for things to get better again.”
Svalbard Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Wed March 09 2022 - SOUTHAMPTON Joiners
Thu March 10 2022 - HUDDERSFIELD Parish
Fri March 11 2022 - WOLVERHAMPTON KK's Steel Mill
Sat March 12 2022 - NEWCASTLE Northumbria University SU
Sun March 13 2022 - LEICESTER Firebug
Sun March 20 2022 - PLYMOUTH Junction
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