Norwegian Post-Metallers Kollwitz Shake Things Up in the Jittery New Video For “Horizon”

Photo by Audar Kantun

Norwegian post-metal outfit Kollwitz has revealed a video for “Horizon,” the just-released first single from its upcoming sophomore album, Dissonance (out 3/15 via Fysisk Format). The six-piece band formed in the late 2000s in Bodø, a windy, coastal town located just north of the Arctic Circle. Listening to its music, one gets a sense that those surroundings have played as much of a role in shaping the band’s expansive sounds and glacial mystique as its musical forerunners in bands like Neurosis and Isis, whose influence echos throughout Kollwitz’s 2010 debut, Like Iron I Rust.

In the years since Like Iron I Rust’s release, the members of Kollwitz had grown in different directions. By the time they returned to the studio last year, conflict had permeated their ranks. Dueling political views and perspectives had to be appeased, if not reconciled, in order for an album to come together. According to the band, the internal tensions inspired the record’s title, Dissonance, as well as a newfound musical aggression and focus, which show in the video for “Horizon.” Directed by Trond Kvig Andreassen and delivered with a warning that viewing may induce seizures, the video depicts the moment of the human boiling point, just before emotions completely bubble over and any shred of sanity left explodes. The camera shakes and rattles in a series of black-and-white images of street scenes, nature shots, and an obviously pain-stricken woman alone in her apartment, indicating that the madness can be found in the world around us as well as in our own minds. Enjoy!

For real, though, look away if you start to feel much weirder than usual

Dissonance is out 3/15 via Fysisk Format.

Jamie Ludwig is chasing the horizon on Twitter.