Veins

In my review on Hypothermia's demo SFAMT ii I mentioned that Hypothermia first started showing signs of the sound that they would be known for. Now with this first full length that sound is solidified, with stronger songwriting and a true ability to affect the listener and capture their attention. The song writing is focused, with a very monotonous droning quality that don't seem to change for minutes on end, or so it seems. The 3 songs each build off the primary riff sometimes moving completely away from it, other times returning back. There really is a great amount of depth to the matter with multiple guitars playing different rhythms AND melodies simultaneously and it brings rewards to the attentive listener.

The execution seems laboured and the recording quality is not terrible but it seems very distant, indifferent, lifeless. The drummer Nachtzeit who is the main composer for the ambient black metal band Lustre always plays at the same speeds and really does sound like the drums are playing him and not the other way around. Everything about the music and the recording quality has a hypnotic droning quality to it and the D tuning of the guitars greatly adds to the murkiness and bitterness which this album possesses.

This album also has quite the vocal performance from Kim Carlsson. Especially in the first and longest song "Isolation." I think its pretty safe to say his vocals are unique among the genre to this day. Relatively sparsely used and sounding incredibly bleak, they are exactly the kind of vocals that fit this music.

With this first full length Hypothermia (Kim Carlsson) is presented at their darkest and most hopeless and with following albums they slowly began expanding their sound with even greater more intricate songwriting. For people trying to understand what depressive black metal is, this is it.

Hypothermia is a band that is probably known for the vocalist, Kim Carlson. Kim Carlson is by far, in my opinion of course, one of the best vocalist in such a genre. He is great in Lifelover and amazing in Hypothermia, but vocals can only take you so far.

Hypothermia is a band that plays...drum roll please...depressive black metal! Yes, a genre that has been flooded due to its expressive nature, a way that "angsty" teens can vent out emotions that were caused by a little break up regarding a high school relationship and their leap of ignorance to consider themselves “depressed”. Rather than being a genre that can play with your emotions it just becomes a sweet little lullaby that can put you to sleep due to the lack of variation, skill, and speed.

With disregard to the current "depressive" black metal genre, Hypothermia engulfs you with such an atmosphere that can only be created by a person that truly knows what he is doing. Kim Carlson manages to change your state of mind with cold, slow, and monotonous music. The guitars are at a steady speed which is a highly important factor to create these emotions, as they are matched quite nicely with a mid paced drum pattern. I do understand that in a genre where slow and steady wins the race but there lacks variation in the drumming. You will hear the use of a hi-hat and then the ride, while still hearing the snare doing the same thing over and over again with the occasional double bass that is lightly inserted and hardly heard. The lack of variation on the drummer’s part is what brings the songs to a dragging feel. It makes the already long tracks seem much longer.

Along with such amazing string work but boring drumming done by Nachtzeit, Kim Carlson definitely strikes you with his vocals. He can nearly do it all, other than the drums. The vocals are what grabs your intention as they are filled with so much emotion that it’s hard to ignore. The screeches are so high that they pierce your skin sending chills down your spine but here is where the release dwindles. The vocals are only good when they are relatively consistent. In this release, Veins, there are long gaps between some words (or syllables, the vocals are hard to decipher) which gets your heart pumping and later drops leaving that unfulfilled craving. At certain points, you want more or at least a word, but Kim leaves it empty, leaving your anticipation behind.

Overall, it’s an ok release. The drum patterns can have just a small drop of variation and the vocals shouldn't be so wide spread. When the gaps of the vocals and the boring drumming are combined it makes the song way longer and eventually, it just drags. This is a band that has an immense amount of potential, and I will be looking forward to future releases.

Depressing and dismal music is what I love best. The way it can control your feelings and state of mind is simply amazing. The way in which you can feel isolated and detached from the world around you, but when you hear those desolate screams of pain and untouched grief, you know for a brief moment in time, for just a second, that you're not alone in depression.


Hypothermia have a very distinct sound, which will no doubt be copied by many for a long time to come. I have already noticed several similar sounding bands, but none quite compare. There are those who come close, but just lack the edge that Kim's presence brings to the foreground. Svedhous are a recommended similar sounding band.


The way Hypothermia twist the feelings of the listener is immense. You could feel on top of the world and Hypothermia will be there, behind your back to drag you straight back down to reality. The world is a messed up place. It is full of chaos, filth and greed. Hypothermia wish to connect with you and share their feelings of hatred, unparalleled pain and consuming darkness. They portray these very themes undoubtedly well.


Using incredibly distorted guitars to pave the way forward. Driven and precisely executed guitar leads are what make Hypothermia who they are. They are both desolate and dreary. The sheer enormity of the distortion may put some off. It makes it increasingly difficult to pay particular attention to the inner works that make Hypothermia what they are. It makes it hard to pay close attention to what makes Hypothermia tick, but it's a necessary element in enhancing the barren and bleak atmosphere that drives the band on.


The drums, at times, can lack substance. The production, as well as the aforementioned distortion issues, doesn't allow the listener to fully appreciate what effect they have. Therefore they end up having very little for a long duration of each song the album consists of. They can be quite weak and lifeless, though I suppose considering the bands bleak take of life is fairly similar, may be this works in their favour. The vocals are different to every other full-length Hypothermia have produced. Veins probably represents the vocals at their weakest but most primitive point. This primitive feel perhaps acts as a positive due to the basic content of the full-length. In conclusion, simplicity again rules all.