Den Der Hale – Harsyra (2021)
Artist: Den Der Hale
Album: Harsyra
Genre: Psychedelic Rock / Space Rock
Label: Sound Effect Records
Year Of Release: 2021
Quality: FLAC (tracks)
Tracklist:
1. Carcassonne (5:34)
2. Ant Mill (13:21)
3. Armoured / Endurance (8:08)
4. Tinktur (2:19)
5. Harsyra (6:25)
Personnel:
– Pontus Lindskogen / performer
– Max Bredberg / performer
– Axel Nelson / performer
– Ejner Pedersen Trenter / bass
– Mimosa Baker / vocals
To sleep, to dream, aye perchance there’s the rub! Shakespeare’s Hamlet contemplating the “big sleep” is perhaps the best known example of an actor thinking about suicide. Of course in Shakespeare’s play sleeping is never without peril. Hamlet’s father is killed in his sleep, and the night is where Hamlet talks to his ghost. Of course in the end Hamlet’s inability to sleep will drive him insane, and in the end everybody dies…but why would I bring that up while writing about this album by Den Der Hale? Read on, my dear audience.
Den Der Hale from Sweden describe their music as post-psych, in which they suggest an amalgamation of postpunk and psychedelic rock, which I can follow while listening to their debut album Harsyra. It’s an album that sounds incredibly sleepy in a real Shakespearian way; dreamy, spooky, deadly, never dull. The band seems to yawn cobwebbed ghost chants, gently lulling the listener into a sleep with incredibly vivid and meaningful dreams. While I’d be hard pressed to label their sound “gothic”, there is a strong spooky element to their music, that is just hazy enough for most psych heads as well. That is to say; the music is contemplative and dreamy, not necessarily bad-trippy.
Their first single Armoured remains their strongest outing, with an elvish choir and a killer bass line that will haunt your daydreams. The other songs are definitely good too, and they establish their characteristic sound, but they have a bit harder time to worm themselves into your system.
Clocking at around 35 minutes the album is on the short side, but it is a perfectly fine business card for a new band on the block. As far as sleeptime goes it’s about the time you’d need for a good, strong power nap. Which can still be quite a dangerous endeavor, just ask William Shakespeare. Don’t say you weren’t warned.
by weirdoshrine
