Makthaverskan: "Witness"

There’s crowd-shot footage of Makthaverskan performing their heartsick anthem “Asleep” at a show in Stockholm last year. When Maja Milner belts the chorus, the crowd attempts to sing along. It doesn’t go well—enthusiastic but flat shout-singing soon engulfs the clip’s audio. Setting aside basic crowd-dweller decency, Milner isn’t the sort of vocalist you can easily mimic. Even if you can manage the high notes, it’d be tough to mirror her passion. Milner’s verses are rarely wordy, but her inflections alone convey a song’s heft. “Witness”, from the band’s new tour 7″, is arguably the strongest example to date of what her voice is capable of.

Milner doesn’t sing so much as she howls, like Siouxsie, her voice echoing with urgency and despair. As always, she’s a powerhouse, but rarely has her voice sounded so monolithic. This is Makthaverskan’s zone—they write a strong hook and make it exponentially stronger when each musician makes their piece as big and dramatic as possible. The drums, in particular, are thunderous, repeatedly shifting the track between simmer and full boil. “Witness your fall” is the hex Milner repeatedly and frantically casts at an enemy—”I’ll make you beg for mercy,” she adds—leaving no doubt she’ll be seeing this downfall through its very end.

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