A Hundred Years Is Nothing is the fifth album from Ljusdal Sweden’s magnificent Hellsingland Underground. When you are a band – especially one that is destined to go the distance – album order is very important. The first album is the initial statement of purpose – you have your entire life to put that album together. The second album, if all goes according to plan, tightens that sound up, refines it, while perhaps searching for a thing or two to differentiate it from the debut. The third album is where the band truly arrives, while the fourth album finds them holding on to what they know while searching for some wild new sound. The all-important fifth album, however, is where the band takes everything they’ve ever learned and filters it through the unknown, creating something completely new. Pretty much every long-term band, from U2 to Yes, Rush to Bob Dylan, The Decemberists to Phish – they all followed this path, and did so with miraculous results.
I am proud to say that Hellsingland Underground – one of my favorite bands in the world - is able to follow in those footsteps, and do so with the greatest of ease. Their latest album arrived on my doorstep about a week or two ago but I knew that I had to wait until the right time, to best absorb it. Yesterday, that time finally came, and what follows are the rough notes I took, in real time, as I listened to this album for the very first time.
Carnival Beyond The Hills: The first single so I’ve heard this already. Familiar sound but a big step forward. Killer Stone Roses-esque jam at the end. Great way to kick off the album.
Strangelands: Folky, campfire sort of vibe, at the start. Classic Charlie Granberg storytelling throughout. Atmospherics in the background give it a haunting vibe. Piano in the foreground is beautiful. Middle section is larger than life and could be stretched out to miraculous length & power on stage. Synth outro unlike anything I’ve ever heard from this band.
Criminal Summer: Quiet, piano driven ballad. Very haunting, with a beautiful, long buildup. Charlie told me this album was very different and he was not lying. A lot of emotion in this track. Completely changes gears halfway through and completely explodes into a powerful, rising sort of jam. When the harmonized guitars briefly kick in, I almost jumped out of my seat.
The Blessing And The Curse: intro reminds me of Billy Joel, but in all the best ways. This song has a swagger that could burn down New Orleans. When the boogie kicks in, you know shit is getting real. Backing vocals usually distract but here they define. The guitar work is dirty as hell. A highlight among highlights.
Rainbow’s Gold: This band often closes out “side one” with a more laid back, acoustic vibe and that stays the same here. This would make for a perfect, lighter-in-the-air encore song.
Elephant: If you name a song “Elephant” then it better be huge. A great side two opener. This one will get the crowd jumpin’ all over. Bass grooves hard on this one.
A Hundred Years Is Nothing: There is an undeniable Springsteen vibe on this one, but the kind of track that Bruce should be producing now. Good thing we have this band to do it instead. Thematically, this reminds me of “Vera” but that might not be intentional. HU always kills it with the harmonized guitars. This track doesn’t disappoint.
I Win, You Lose, I Guess: Loping groove just made for dancing. Never has such a heavy, middle-finger lyric elicited as many smiles as this track. Again, with the killer guitar solos. Guitar swells in the beginning of the last verse are cool. This should be a single.
Pig Farm: A bit of a “Goin’ Up The Country” vibe here. You can tell that they had a blast sorting this track out. “Run piggies run”. Fuck yeah.
From Here To The Grave: This track is huge. There is a familiar HU vibe in the writing but the production and performance put this on another level. The middle section is brilliant beyond words.
Bloodlines: One of the spookiest things I’ve ever heard from this band. A dark, moody closing for the album, but very fitting. Lots of emotion in this track, but it stops long before it should have. This could (and should) have been much longer, with the kind of jam that closes Evil Will Prevail....and that is the only mis-step on this otherwise phenomenal fifth album.
Flare Up The Night: Speaking of Evil Will Prevail, this b-side was an outtake from that album, finally making its debut on the “Carnival Beyond The Hills” single. While this track would be out of place on both that album, and this one, it is still a huge, roof-raising anthem and is a prime example of this band at its best.
As I mentioned before, I went into this knowing that the album was very different, and I know that it was not an easy one for the band to make. They lost founding guitarist Mats Olsson along the way, and had various other ups and downs. But those struggles made this album stronger. There is no point on A Hundred Years Is Nothing where the band seems lost, but they often sound like they are searching. There is still a familiarity in every one of these songs but none of them sound like a rehash of their earlier work. Charlie Granberg still writes songs from his own experience and has a unique style of storytelling, both in the words and the delivery thereof, which makes him instantly recognizable. His skills as a producer are growing rapidly as well. Beyond the band’s performance, there are intricacies that bubble under these tracks that take them beyond just songs. This album is an event.
Of course, the hardest part is yet to come. Often bands will follow up that monumental fifth album with a project that finds them wildly careening down one rabbit hole or another. Sometimes the results are spectacular, sometimes merely curious. It will be tough for them to sort out, but I believe they will pull it off, and I will be right there, rabidly waiting and cheering them on. I have heard Charlie say that he intends for this band to go on forever and I fully intend to hold him to it.
