✦✦✦✧ Vildhjarta prefers their djent jarring and jazzy (djarring and djazzy). Good god, this album is heavy. But the heaviness hides some inner subtlety and beauty, in the staccato spaces between the palm mutes and quarter-note crashes. Vilhelm Bladin’s Swedish screaming are paradoxically an essential part of the listening experience, adding a layer of focus and attention to the music that can often sound chaotic at best; familiarity with the Swedish language is not required.

★★☆☆ While others are trying to reform their djenty excesses, Vildhjarta doubles down on their latest EP. The result: a somewhat satisfying, yet very confusing, 24 minutes that goes whichever way it pleases. Perhaps it’s the unpredictability that makes the EP’s high points so good… but the overall experience is not unlike getting roofied (or so I hear).