Palmless is an experimental metal band from Malmoe, Sweden. The thing that brought them to my attention was Jonas Pedersen’s former band Black Temple; who’s debut album I awarded the best album of 2015. When Jonas departed Black Temple I was first let down, then quickly finding out he had a band in waiting which was Palmless. These two bands differ greatly. Palmless is much more experimental and sometimes fitting more closely in the black metal genre. Jonas trades in his bass for guitar duties with this band. Vocalist Niklas Olsson has a vivid approach as the frontman, voice shines within this band. Ulf Blomberg brings the low end thunder on bass and drummer Daniél rounds out the band with his hard hitting stylings and cymbal crashes. Combined the members give the band an all-around sound that is full of varying elements and groundbreaking techniques. Palmless has relinquished their debut album ‘The Nine Exits’ on January 13, 2017. It was recorded and mixed by Jonas Pedersen at his studio Kryptan IV, in Malmö, Sweden.
Artwork by: Linda Pedersen
“Abstracter Part II: Those Are Not Lilac Skies” gets everything started with a long instrumental intro. The vocals kick in about 1:30 into the song and has this distant scream like sound. This track truly showcases the more instrumental side of the band with distorted riffs and cymbal crashes galore. “Epilogue: Once We Had Hope” begins with a very ambient beginning. There is some spoken word at a distant which makes you listen even more closely to the song. The song breaks up the more complex sounds the band has already divulged. “The Truth About Life After Death” has a somewhat different sound than the previous tracks. Here they show a major tempo change and single out some minimalist riffs that provide this raindrop like type of rhythm. The tempo changes drastically as well as the heaviness of the track. “Taken By Fire” begins with a chaotic like introduction that works well and quickly melds into more melodic tones with Niklas’ unrelenting screams in the background. The contrast of his harsh vocals blanketed over the more easy going riffs really juxtapose their unique style. Enough can’t be said about the constant kamikaze riffs unleashed by Jonas, followed by the low end bass stylings of Ulf. Together their different tones create a rhythm that is all sealed together with Daniel’s duties behind the drum kit. Palmless aren’t just in an experimental stage in their music, they are an imaginative band that doesn’t allow their music to be imprisoned to one style or genre. While their music lands at times in several genres it doesn’t stay there long. They are able to maintain a revolving door of unique styles and sounds that makes every track feel like a true renaissance for the band.
Follow Palmless on Facebook here and check out the entire album on Spotify here.
