After undergoing a series of unforeseeable visa issues that brought their long-awaited debut US tour to a standstill, Sweden’s Makthaverskan finally made it to SXSW. The band appeared at venues all around Austin, but most of our staff caught them at Run For Cover’s stacked showcase on Saturday night.

Makthaverskan has been a big deal abroad for a long time, so they took the stage with the kind of sedate confidence that radiates professionalism. Still, the band managed to have fun throughout. To celebrate drummer Andreas “Palle” Wettmark’s birthday, frontwoman Maja Milner led the crowd in a raucous rendition of “Happy Birthday” and later broke into fits of giggles at the end of their set, softening her yowling vocal performance on songs like “Witness” and the bitter, resentful “No Mercy.” Milner has the kind of capacious voice that fits the universe inside of it. With every exhalation, she sucks all of the air out of the room and unloads her frustration on the audience. The band’s set was short, but it was definitely one of the best I saw last week.

Makthaverskan will continue from Texas on their US tour and have a 7″ coming out on Record Store Day via Run For Cover. Check out photos from their performance above.