Swedish dark metal act The Vice has announced the release of the band’s upcoming five track EP ‘A Great Unrest’, set to be released on March 7 via Noble Demon.

Following the success of their latest full-length album, Dead Canary Run (2024, Noble Demon), The Vice embarked on an exciting journey to create a series of EPs. The addition of Joel Öhman, a long-time collaborator, has transformed the band into a finely-tuned quartet, enriching their sound with fresh perspectives and innovative approaches.

The first offering from this new chapter, A Great Unrest, has this growth on full display, amplifying every inch of the foundation made of blackened metal, ambient pop and unbridled rock n roll.

The five tracks – three new ones, a cover of “1 Sun” by Miley Cyrus and a rearranged version of “Welcome The Storm” from the latest album – were recorded in the fall of 2024 at Studio Underjord (Skraeckoedlan, Magna Carta Cartel, Haystack among others) in rural Sweden.

Fresh off of writing and recording a full album, this EP was the perfect way to musically break the “limitations” that can come when working to create a really unified piece of art.

And while it wasn’t exactly Fantomas-levels of diverse tracks, sound engineer and owner of the studio, Joona Hassinen really pulled his ‘A’ game giving it a coherent sound. “A Great Unrest” sounds a bit lighter, yet more harsh than “Dead Canary Run” with an electrified, distorted tension running throughout.

In support of the upcoming release, The Vice have unleashed the first single and title track of the EP.

Guitarist Rickard about the track: “To me, ‘A Great Unrest’ is everything that The Vice is all about, boiled down to its purest form. One sinister fucking riff, a couple of choruses trembling with fierceness, passion and rebellion, and a final act to release all that built up tension in a beautiful, yet most ominous way. All in under three and a half minute, really think we obliterated every head of every nail with this one.”

Regarding the EP’s themes, the band adds: “Thematically there wasn’t any other ideas, thoughts, than usual when entering the studio. The Vice is, has always been, and will forever be about unrest, rebellion, those mixed feelings of unease and ecstacy when balancing on the last inches of the edge, about to plunge into the void. Some songs here and there have more specific themes, but in general it’s reflections and ideas about this existence from a quite calm, gathered perspective though always prepared, anticipating the moment when the tension breaks and the unknown madness begins. Somewhere along the way the visual representations like the cover art, music video, title etc all started to lean towards some kind of cold war aesthetics. This was absolutely not intentional, never discussed and nothing we’d naturally turn to. Sure some things led to the other, but at least some of it feels like the music just had an inherent vibe of that, cold, metallic, bleak, post-war vibe.”

LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/TheViceOfficial/
https://www.instagram.com/theviceofficial/
https://theviceonline.bandcamp.com/
https://linktr.ee/nobledemon