As I said a couple weeks ago, when we first heard Kvelertak’s “Bruane Brenn“:

Kvelertak’s forthcoming sophomore album, Meir, made our list of 2013’s 50 Most Anticipated Albums, and it would be in the single digits of my own personal list. The Norwegian black ‘n’ roll band’s self-titled 2010 debut was one of the most exciting “heavy” albums of the last decade, mixing D-beat punk, black metal, classic rock, and hardcore, and emerging with something totally new and invigorating. I’m prone to hyperbole, but it may be my favorite album of the last five years. I’m impossibly stoked for the follow-up — which was once again recorded with Converge’s Kurt Ballou — and based on the album’s first single, “Bruane Brenn,” my anticipation will be handsomely rewarded. It’s a total blast of riffs, adrenaline, football chants, and guitar solos, and in its four minutes, you get five decades of rock ‘n’ roll, compressed into one massive speedball hit.

Now that I’ve heard Meir in full, I can honestly say it lives up to and maybe exceeds my expectations. It’s an absolute beast, heavier than the band’s astonishing debut, but equally innovative and rapturous. We’ve got the video for “Bruane Brenn” today, featuring a band of pre-teen wannabes doing their best Kvelertak impression. They do a great job, but if I’m being honest, the real band actually has more energy on stage. Check it out.

Meir is out 3/26 via Roadrunner.