Parasight
With their second full length ‘At leve som hvis der var et håb’, the Copenhagen based D-beat combo PARASIGHT delivers a consistent metallic hardcore record which in its political songwriting carries an indignant system critique originating from loss, despair and longing - but also from empathy, love and the recognition of the necessity to live...as is if there was hope.
The members of PARASIGHT had been playing together in different metal and hardcore bands when they gathered as a band in 2009 due to their common love of Swedish punk, D-beat and bands like Motorhead and Discharge. Besides the common musical vision, the members also had a need to touch upon political subjects in a more direct manner than possible in their primary bands. From the beginning, the communal songwriting has originated from bass player KB Larsens musical ideas, and him and the band have produced the band’s releases themselves including a full length, a 7” and a split 12”. PARASIGHT has toured Europe several times, primarily at DIY venues in Germany and likewise, the local youth house ‘Ungdomshuset’ has been visited frequently - natural surroundings for the confrontationally aggressive and politically fueled music which the band creates.
Where the first couple of releases were characterized by differing sources of inspiration and experimentation, PARASIGHT have now sharpened their melodic and Scandinavian sounding D-beat consisting of equal parts metal, punk and hardcore. PARASIGHT’s new second album ‘At Leve som hvis der var et håb’ (Danish for ‘To live as if there was hope’) sums up the musical journey of the band so far in its delivery of a full sonic attack, which communicates its content in a direct but still nuanced and empathetic fashion - exactly the way it should be done. As PARASIGHTs earlier releases, ‘At Leve...’ is produced by the band itself with the one difference being, that the new album is mixed by the Swedish producer legend Fredrik Nordström (Martyrdöd, At The Gates). Nordströms rich mix completes the band’s massive and dynamic aesthetics and the record comes off as the most accomplished and direct release from the band so far. On the musical side, the band has cut away all unnecessary elements in order to find the raw, primitive and ultra simple song without losing the melodic and grandiose. Feeling and content remains the most important and nothing must stand in the way of communicating these primary traits.
This circumstance is also valid in regards to the band’s Danish lyrics, which positions itself in a national tradition of political poetry. With inspiration from the political Danish rock of the 70s, lyricist and lead singer Michael Aagesen writes easily intelligible anti-elite lyrics in which content is above form. Social injustice; war as one man’s profit and another man’s suffering, the crisis of immigration and an increasing callousness; the greed that is killing nature, the decay of the body, life and morals. The messages are clearly understood, but still there are several layers of interpretation within the material. The lyrics are political and social realistic, but also personally and at times full of despair and a sense of meaninglessness, yet not always without hope and solutions. The negative states of mind being described emerges out of a mourning for what has perished, the good which is lost when we become indifferent and let evil prevail. This is not a ‘good’ and an ‘evil’ in a religious or ideological sense, but rather within a humanistic frame of reference: By ourselves, we know what is right, and when we fail in following this through. The album’s artwork - created by the artist Phillip Janta - points towards one of the many tragic incidents during the European immigrant crisis in 2015, one incident that due to an iconic photograhy is etched into our collective memory. We can all recall the image of the drowned boy at the beach. For him, all hope is lost, but we are still here and do we dare hope that we can alter this unspeakable horror henceforth. Maybe. What we can do is to fight, believe, love and live - as if there was hope.
Members
Michael Aagesen – Vocals
Allan Tvedebrink – Guitar
KB Larsen – Bass
Nikolaj Borg – Drums
Discography
At Leve Som Hvis Der Var Et Håb (Album 2018)
Munden Fuld Af Løgn, Lommerne Fulde Af Profit (Album 2015)