Vildhjarta is a Swedish progressive metal band from Hudiksvall, formed in 2005. The band plays in a Meshuggah-influenced musical style employing heavily down-tuned seven-string guitars, as well as harmonic minorchord progressions, jarring staccato riffs, layers of reverberant guitars and dual lead vocalists. The group released a 2-track EP entitled Omnislash in 2009 before they proceeded to sign with Century Media Records in 2011, spawning their debut full-length album Måsstaden that same year. In 2013, they followed up with a second EP, Thousands of Evils released on an exclusive 1,000-copy vinyl record run. An upcoming second full-length album has also been confirmed. The word "vildhjärta" translates to "wildheart" in Swedish.
History
Vildhjarta was formed by Daniel Bergström, Jimmie Åkerström, and Johan Nyberg in 2005 in Hudiksvall, Sweden. The band's earliest days consisted of three members. According to Vildhjarta guitarist Daniel Bergström, commitment to their fans and "the art of music itself", only allowed for three songs to be released in the four years before the release of their first full-length album. After years of trading e-mails with metal label giant Century Media they signed a worldwide record contract in the Spring of 2011. Their debut album, Måsstaden, is a concept-album that "tells the tale of a hidden and isolated town, narrated in a classic fable manner". Sources of inspiration for the album's story included The Jungle Book and Mumindalen. The album received a favourable review from Consequence of Sound, who called it "a harsh, fantastic, concept work." 2011 also saw a major line-up change in the band: Vilhelm Bladin replaced Robert Luciani who parted ways and formed the band Means End together with former Uneven Structure drummer Christian Schreil. On April 20, 2012, Jimmie Åkerström left the band. Fans were told it would not affect Vildhjarta's writing or touring plans. They embarked on a European tour with Veil of Maya, Volumes and Structures in May. In late 2012, the band announced that they were planning to release an EP of new material, entitled Thousands of Evils. 3 clips from the EP have since been released and a new song was debuted live on the "Euroblast Tour" in late 2012. The EP was released as a limited editionvinyl. After the release of Thousands of Evils, the band became relatively silent about any future endeavors. It wasn't until late 2016 that Vildhjarta unveiled a minute-long teaser for new music. In 2018, the band also confirmed that they will be performing an exclusive show for the 2018 Euroblast festival. In November 2019, the band released the single "Den Helige Anden" from an album to be released in 2020 called Kaos 2.
