Sällskapet
s/t
Dust Music/Universal

Before every gig on Thåström's latest tour, he and his band listened to Italian dark-wave legends Kirilian Camera to get into the right claustrophobic, dark mindset. With that in mind, it's no surprise that his new band Sällskapet (with Pelle Ossler's amazing guitarwork and old PLP-cohort Niklas Hellberg) conjures dark atmospheres, pulsing hypnotic beats and images of worn-down streets in concrete jungles. While it's easy to draw comparisons to both Kirilian Camera and later-day Einstürzende Neubauten, Sällskapet mostly resembles the third album of Thåström's 90s industrial outfit Peace Love and Pitbulls; only slowed down, stripped of metal-riffs and explosions, and turned into infernal electro-blues. The worn down approach makes the songs stronger, setting atmosphere in the front room with half the album being an instrumental soundtrack to feverish city-nightmares. But the best songs are the ones where Thåström (or in one instance, Nina Ramsby) sings, cutting right to the bone of the listener. When the accompanying DVD sets their songs to images of worn down subway trains, cranes in harbours, dark tunnels and rainfilled streets, it almost makes Sällskapet border on parody. But the rusted beauty of the music makes sure they land on the right side of greatness, both on disc and video.
- Hanzan