This is the second album from Heathe, a post-metal/rock band from Denmark.
Control Your Soul’s Desire for Freedom is the 64-minute follow up to 2019’s On the Tombstones; the Symbols Engraved. Heathe have developed their sound on this new record, expanding widely into multifaceted waters that take in a broad set of influences. I’ve tagged this above as post-metal/rock, but it’s not really – at least not in any traditional sense. They are simply the closest broad terms relevant. There’s certainly very little in the way of metal on this record, for example. Heathe exist in a niche world, where a lot of recognisable materials have been mangled into something quite atypical.
The core of Heathe’s past sound remains in places, but have been transformed. You can still hear the influence of dark doom, suffocating drone, blackened malevolence, dissonant atmosphere, and jagged noise rock, but these has been given an overhaul – by how much, and in what way, varies significantly. Essentially, Heathe have given themselves free rein to experiment – successfully – with a range of different ideas and sounds, some of which they have dabbled in previously, and some of which are new to this album. This includes jazz, gospel, synth, electronic, percussive, horn, and orchestral/string elements. Merely listing some of the ingredients that have gone into this music doesn’t really do justice to the final product, however.
Control Your Soul’s Desire for Freedom provides the listener with a soundscape of harrowing darkness and layered nightmare to navigate. It is a rough, textured journey, with many dangers and frequent unexpected turns. Everything from morbid doom to energised beats to minimal trance and much else is included. It’s highly atmospheric and absorbing, assuming you’re on board with music that uncaringly straddles boundaries with ease.
It’s sort of a mechanised, industrialised apocalyptic sound that Heathe have created for themselves. It’s kind of a cross between a twisted version of a 70s progressive rock album by an act like Rush, an abstract atmospheric deep dive by Kayo Dot, the cosmic progressive energy of Dødheimsgard, the experimental creativity of Soldat Hans, the relentless horror drone of Khanate, the adorned controlled chaos of Imperial Triumphant, the rhythmic flair of Training for Utopia, the industrial beats of Godflesh, the sparse mood-building of Earth, the soulful presence of Crippled Black Phoenix, and on and on. Some of these references only enter my mind at certain points across the record, or during certain songs, or parts of certain songs, whereas others were more pervasive. Heathe’s skill comes from being able to integrate all of this and more into a holistic, cohesive, effective whole. The songwriting and worldbuilding on Control Your Soul’s Desire for Freedom is as impressive as it is impactful.
The songs are engaging and rich in personality. The clash of styles and influences is smoothly rendered, working collaboratively instead of antagonistically, boosting the end result to a higher plateau of immersive interest. The record feels simultaneously dark and bright; it’s an album of horror and misery, but rendered in glorious technicolour. It’s cinematic, but a high quality arthouse movie, not a soulless blockbuster. Heathe have crafted a record that has a lot to explore. Every song sounds almost like a different band, although there’s a thread of identity that links them, and the album as a whole never lacks in focus or cohesion.
Control Your Soul’s Desire for Freedom is a tour de force of progressive/industrial/post-whatever music. It’s the type of record that I haven’t come across in many years, one which takes the sort of experimental approach to post-metal/rock music – of any genre – that seemed to be much more prevalent in the 00s.
Heathe’s new record is an essential listen for anyone that wants something uncommon and atypical. Control Your Soul’s Desire for Freedom offers a captivating musical experience to savour and explore at length.
Wonderbox Metal 