You'd be forgiven for struggling to summarize the sound of Svalbard. Since forming in 2011, the band have had their hands in black metal, post-rock, d-beat, shoegaze, hardcore, and post-metal. Whilst their music stubbornly refuses to fit neatly into one genre, one word remains a fitting adjective for the British quartet: unique. Written in the band's freezing cold rehearsal room in Bristol, The Weight of the Mask did not come together painlessly. With a fourth album now under their belts, Svalbard are going from strength to strength. Crystal Clear & Black Marble LP