Taking an interesting approach with their signature blends of post metal, screamo and post rock, NIONDE PLÅGAN has been one of the most compelling and touching offering in the modern European post hardcore scene. Flaring into devastating abysses that invert into mountains of cathartic climaxes, the band brings to mind bands like SUIS LA LUNE or VI SOM ÄLSKADE VARANDRA and brilliantly occupies both the glaringly light and hauntingly dark atmospherics, as well as various the shades in between. We’re honored to give you an early listen of their new masterpiece, slated for an October 28, 2022 release date via Moment Of Collapse Records.
“Transformation is in some sense a continuation of our previous albums Reflektion and Frustration, building it’s sound from the more atmospheric attributes of earlier songs.” – comments the band.
“As the title suggests, the common thread of the album is change. Change as in our actual experiences as well as transformations we long for. One recurring theme is finding oneself transforming from someone you thought you knew to a kind of stranger, for better or worse, and going from one place to another. Often without really feeling in control of your movement.”
Adds Moment Of Collapse Records: “The six songs display a well grown and more distinctive version of the already settled soundspectrum the music of NIONDE PLÅGAN is known for.
After 2019’s “Reflektion” the band managed to play a lot of shows worldwide and grew as band, what you can hear on “Transformation“.
NIONDE PLÅGAN managed to rely on their foundations with aspiration to put a massive pile on every single one of ’em. The result is a heavy sounding album with hints to new spheres like post metal and post rock, but still shrouds itself in the cloak of deeply rooted emotive hardcore music.
Those six songs speak for itself and leave no doubt that NIONDE PLÅGAN should be mentioned in the same breath like genreicons such as Suis La Lune, Vi Som Älskade Varandra Så Mycket or Trachimbrod.”
The band is: Jonathan Spånberger – Vocals, Behzad Mehrnoosh – Guitars, Gustav Björkman – Bass, Anton Johansson – Drums
“We’re really proud of the album and can’t wait to share it with our friends and play the songs live. We hope others will like it too!” – admits the band, and gives us their full track by track rundown:
1. Jag vill det här för oss
We wanted to have a clear “intro song” to properly introduce the soundscape to come on the new album. Pretty similar to how we started off Reflektion. In this song, we even added some clean singing to build up the proper atmosphere. The title translates approximately to “I want this for us” and is a reference to the political theorist Wendy Brown.
2. Resenär
This is the song we chose as the single for the album and I guess it’s pretty much the theme song for the whole album. With it’s 12 minutes, it captures the essence of the album, theme wise as well as sound wise. The title translates to “Traveler” and the song is about wanted and unwanted transformation and travelling, in a few different perspectives such as class, age and values.
3. Äta sova dö (deluxe edition)
This would be the fastest and most ‘punky’ song of the album, however with a quite big and atmospheric end section that I think can be recognized in most of the songs on the album. The title translates to “Eat sleep die” with the slightly comic addition of “deluxe edition”, being a song about reflecting on how a “good career” and a well-paid job might not necessarily be the optimal choice in life, even if you’re lucky enough to be able to make such a choice.
4. Vanligt folk
Probably the most slow and heavy song on the album and including a lot of dual vocals, a bit similar to how we recorded some of the songs on our first album ‘Frustration’. The title translates to “Ordinary people” and the lyrics are based on a poem with the same name, written by the Swedish poet Elsie Johansson.
5. Oro
This is another quite long song like Resenär, leaning quite heavily towards the post-rock genre. Similar to Resenär, the lyrics relate to a theme of transformation in the aspects of class, routines and patterns. It brings up complexities and mixed feelings of pride and shame or embarrassment in relation to heritage and in relation to oneself and one’s family in the context of experienced transformations in life.
6. Affirmation
Similar to the ‘Jag vill det här för oss’ being a clear “intro song”, this is a definite wrap-up of the album. To a large extent, it is actually a continuation of the album’s first song. As with ‘Vanligt folk’, we have used the lyrics of a poem. This is a poem originally written by Assata Shakur, used in its Swedish translation.
The band has lined up a handful of shows in Scandinavia this Autumn, with hopes to announce more dates next year.
“Our aim is definitely to do some more shows and touring.” – they admit. “You should probably expect some kind of European tour during Summer or Fall and hopefully some more shows in Sweden already before then as well.”
Nov 2nd – Stockholm (SE)
Nov 3rd – Oslo (NO)
Nov 4th – Kristiansand (NO)
Nov 5th – Aarhus (DK)
