End - Allt ar Intet

The English translation of Allt Är Intet is "All Is Nothingness"

- an apt enough title for a band already possessed of the

scorched earth sonic tendencies and nihilist-leaning name

of The End. Yet there's some ambiguity to that philosophy;

the most bleak and despairing interpretation can be countered

by a more all-embracing, one-with-the-universe meditativeness.

Perhaps surprisingly, either conclusion proves to fit Allt Är Intet,

the remarkable second full-length album by The End.

The powerhouse international quintet is made up of

Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson

(Fire!, The Thing), Norwegian saxophonist Kjetil Møster

(Møster!, Zanussi 5), Ethiopian-born vocalist

Sofia Jernberg (Fire! Orchestra, PAAVO), Norwegian

guitarist Anders Hana (MoHa!, Ultralyd(, and Norwegian

drummer Børge Fjordheim (Cloroform).

Anyone familiar with these boundary-leaping musicians'

work is familiar with their throttling ferocity and ability

to stretch their music into brutal extremes with focused

intensity, as evidenced throughout The End's audacious

2018 debut, Svarmod Och Vemod Är Värdesinnen

(which featured Deerhoof drummer Greg Saunier in lieu

of Fjordheim). But their follow-up, achieved after

two years of continued exploration together, strikes an

exhilarating balance between it's predecessor's blistering

maelstroms and a more densely layered and haunting beauty.