Let’s cut to the chase:
What you’re about to see is a beautifully filmed and edited video that matches the frantic and fluid interpretive dance performance of a pair of lithe ladies with the hard-charging musical performance of the Swedish band Vittra, all of it interspersed with brief slo-mo frames that help make the experience even more interesting. Everyone gets a chance to shine, and shine they do.
The song that’s the subject of the video is “Satmara“, off the band’s debut album Blasphemy Blues, which is set for release on November 11th. Lyrically, it tells a tale of the intoxicating but ruinous powers of succubi. The music turns out to be damned intoxicating too, operating as musical adrenaline for the mind.
Photo by Glen Mountford
An exotic acoustic melody dances at the outset, but soon enough “Satmara” picks up that melody and races with it, propelled by darting and skittering fretwork, neck-cracking drums, and scorching blackened howls. The feeling is wild and glorious, and the music blazes in the chorus. At just the right time, the band give your pulse an extra kick with a compulsive chugging and jolting sequence, and quickly follow that with a fleet-fingered but mesmerizing solo (another solo arrives to bring the song to a scintillating close)..
As icing on the kick, this exhilarating song gets stuck in the head really fast too, and it’s so catchy that it doesn’t wear out its welcome — nor does the video, for which the filmmaking credit goes to Glen Mountford at TRUEview media.
We’re told that the band originally called themselves Vildvittra, based on the characters created by Astrid Lindgren as part of “Ronja Rövardotter”. That name later evolved into Vittra, inspired by the mythical creatures appearing in Swedish folk stories. While Swedish folk is a recurring theme weaving in and out of their music, the band proclaim themselves “firmly rooted in Melodic Death and Thrash Metal in the veins of Dissection, early In Flames, Megadeth, and At the Gates“.
As for this first single from the album and the accompanying video, Vittra tell us:
“Musically, ‘Satmara‘ showcases one of our trademarks, being the combination of Death/Thrash with strong songwriting and catchy hooks. In the veins of Megadeth meets 80’s Ozzy, it comes with a Heavy Metal-ish twist to it, having that “chugging” on the A-string, but surprises with an overall upbeat Pop feel.
This inspired the idea of having a dance performance in the video, replacing the same-old guitar solo closeups with an explosive interpretation of movements, celebrating what connects humankind on the most primeval level: ‘A shared desire / A crime so vile angels wept apocalyptic fire – Do you feel my pounding heart?’“
Blasphemy Blues was recorded at SolnaSound Production in Sweden with the support of Simon Johansson (Soilwork, Wolf) and Mike Wead (King Diamond, Mercyful Fate), and it was mixed and mastered by Lawrence Mackrory (Bloodbath, Lik, Firespawn), and completed with eye-catching artwork created by Hjules.
VITTRA is:
Alex Smith – drums
David Döragrip – vocals
Gustav Svensson – bass
Johan Murmester – guitar
Lars Elofsson – guitar (live)
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