We’re happy to welcome Swedish VAK as the latest member to the Indie Recordings family!
“When I first heard VAK I just started smiling. It felt like a band that was created specifically for my listening pleasure only. Blending everything from Tool, Mastodon, RATM and Soundgarden - they cannot fail.” – Erlend Gjerde, Managing Director at Indie Recordings
VAK is presenting their second album “Loud Wind” through Indie Recordings, produced by themselves and mixed and mastered by Magnus Lindberg (Cult of Luna). “We are thrilled that our album is being released by Indie Recordings and we feel very at home among many of their other artists, such as Cult of Luna and Shining. This label feels like the perfect place for us.” Comments the band.
The members of VAK have a rich background in various bands and genres. Robin Skarin on keyboards creates a mesmerizing approach to metal through the lens of his jazz background, drawing mainly from Keith Jarrett: “It would be interesting to hear Jarrett playing in a metal band and maybe that approach is what challenges me in the work of VAK.”
Guitarist Ivan Rey’s input also stems from non-metal influences preventing VAK from becoming another boring metal act. He declares: “I was not really into metal before we started VAK, and I’m not into it now either. And I don’t think you have to be. The most important thing is how we together are able to release the energy significant for VAK.”
The sound of VAK is hard to grasp. Jesper Skarin, front man-vocalist and bass player says: “We would be happy to tell people how we sound, but it’s tough. It’s not that we try to be strange, and we aren’t that strange either, but when five guys like us with different inspirations collaborate in our democratic fashion, the outcome is unpredictable and not reducible to single styles. And we like that very much.”
Inspirations range from Radiohead, Tool, Mastodon, Genesis, Kate Bush, Rage Against The Machine, Breach, Neil Young and Soundgarden. And this is essential: all five voices of the band are equally important, VAK is emphatically democratic in their process of creativity. Overall, VAK create a very rough blend of hard rock music, but with intelligence and humor. A listener who is smiling is a good listener. And this is exactly what drummer Anders Bartonek points out: “For me, laughter always needs to be a part of metal, I have always thought it’s very unserious to be too serious about creativity.”
So, our advice is that you let VAK take you on their ride. You will enter foreign land. Your body and brain will be consumed. And it’s absolutely worth the effort of taking on something new!
Their next album “Loud Wind” will be out worldwide via Indie Recordings on August 23rd!