Dungen, for those unfamiliar are the etherial sounding atmospheric-rock quartet who hail from the Northern-most point of rural Sweden. Fronted by the group’s soundscape architect, Gustav Ejstes, Dungen have put together nothing short of eight studio albums prior to their 2016 release, Häxan. As a teenager Ejstes was obsessed with hip-hop and sampling. It is something that breathes throughout his fruitful career with Dungen and found new pastures within psychedelia, progressive-rock and 60s pop.

With Häxan the band have refused to fall into a characteristic break like the five year trap that stood between their previous two albums, instead opting to follow-up 2015’s Allas San just a year on. Häxan isn’t quite a studio album in the same way their previous efforts are though. Häxan is the end result of a soundtrack they were invited to compose for 1926’s The Adventures of Prince Achmed – the oldest animation film known. Inspired by the obscurities of 1920s animation, the soundtrack locks horns with similar dark themes – the riveting funk bass, spiky guitar sounds and carnival keys all paint a warped, dystopian future.

Häxan paints pictures without the necessary visual of the film. What I mean by this is the soundtrack produced by Dungen carries imagery within the sounds and textures, be it the dismal chimes of organ at the start of ‘Grottan’ or the quick-moving stride of the bass in ‘Trollkarlen och fågeldräkten’. The staple-points of psychedelia that painted Ejstes’ work in the early days of Dungen have become miraculously developed over time. Where Häxan is largely celebrated is not within psychedelia as such or impressive guitar jams but instead within its jazz influences, trip-hop and vast experimentalism.

‘Den Fattige Aladdin’ looks to Eastern influences, the chime of flutes scratch above dusty recording tapes giving the impression the sound is crackling out of an old TV set. The option to record via analogue tapes leaves room for natural mistakes and accidents, the murkiness that this creates gives texture to Dungen’s sound rather than depriving it of quality. The humongous guitars that play over the album’s titled track give nods to Ejstes’ love of Hendrix with The Who-sized soundscapes – its apocalyptic nature fits in with the soundtrack though. Rather than feeling misplaced, it changes the scene and develops the plot-line.

The soundtrack, much like a film, carries a narrative. The freedom that Ejstes has gained on Häxan is at times a marvel to behold but occasionally wanders into the bracket of being overly testing. The narrative doesn’t necessarily follow order at all times and when it doesn’t, the throws in tempo and rhythm can sadly be unnerving, building to a crescendo before dropping you at the foot of another mountain. ‘Kalifen’ halts the pressure imposed by ‘Den Fattige Aladdin’ and in doing so, freezes you in the story, ‘Achemd Flyger’ changes the tempo and instrumentation once again making it confusing to grasp and ‘Aladdin och lampan, del 1’ feels unnecessary.

Walking the line of pretence can never be easy – when it works it is beautiful though. ’Aladdin och lampan, del 2’ more than makes up for its sister track, reverting to the flute once more. ‘Achmed och Peri Banu’ is a lethargic bob and shimmers much in the same way as Portishead and Low. It’s a crooning road of a song, paved in snow with the despair of a January morning. It wreaks of misery but in doing so develops an atmosphere and vivid imagery. ‘Andarnas Krig’ is the conclusion to the album, the final attack and the climax of what is an epic adventure. Guitar ripples through the opening section, breaking up, stuttering and summersaulting into a fence of percussion. Much like in any film, Dungen leave their final and most brutal attack until the end when in their death throes. As the life of Häxan flails, the group kick and writhe the most. The soaring sounds of Ejstes’ guitar builds and rises to the peak, the song grows and in doing so, so does the astonishing ambition of Häxan.

Dungen have created a challenging beast with Häxan. It is something that cuts a fine line between pretence and a masterpiece, thus perhaps suggesting it as a miracle. It moves swiftly as an album, never becoming boring but occasionally becoming overbearing. It finds its strengths throughout but if a few of the weaker tracks were cut, this could have been one of the albums of the year. Nevertheless, it is a necessary listen for any fans of compelling film scores.
Tom Churchill

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