Makthaverskan - Glass and Bones (2026)
I still hear enough of Makthaverskan’s core strengths here to understand why the album works for a lot of people. The guitars have that familiar bright ache, the vocals still cut through with conviction, and the record never completely collapses into passive dream-pop drift. There’s a built-in urgency to this band that remains appealing even when the songwriting itself doesn’t fully rise to the occasion.
But I’m hearing Glass and Bones less as a strong comeback and more as a decent record that doesn’t quite justify its own momentum. The songs move, but they don’t build enough. I get a steady stream of competent emotional post-punk energy, yet not enough peaks that feel truly earned or transformative. The album is pleasant to sit with, but it rarely creates that sense of mounting pressure or release that would make the material feel necessary rather than simply well-executed.
Part of the issue is that the cleaner, brighter side of the record also makes it feel a little safer. Earlier Makthaverskan could sound desperate, unstable, almost on the verge of breaking apart; that emotional extremity was a big part of their appeal. Here, I hear a band that knows its sound very well and can still deliver it effectively, but with less danger and less damage. The result is more approachable, but also less affecting.
So at this score, I’d frame Glass and Bones as a respectable but limited Makthaverskan album: melodic, coherent, and occasionally stirring, yet too controlled and too uniform to leave a deep mark. It has enough identity to avoid mediocrity, but not enough escalation or emotional consequence to feel like a major record.
Pros
The album still has a recognisable Makthaverskan identity: bright, urgent guitars and that wounded, instantly identifiable vocal presence.It avoids total midtempo lethargy; there’s enough propulsion to keep it from turning into background dream-pop.
A few songs seem genuinely strong and carry more emotional charge than the surrounding material.
Cons
The album doesn’t escalate enough across its runtime; it stays in a fairly narrow emotional and dynamic zone.
The brighter, cleaner presentation reduces some of the desperation and gravity that made earlier Makthaverskan records hit harder.
Too much of it feels like a polished reassertion of their formula rather than a record with major new tension, lift or payoff.
Genre: Indie Rock
Country: Sweden
Final Verdict: 64% (Good Album)
Yearly Ranking: 226th / 502
Highlight: Shatter
Made me think of:
Alvvays
The Sundays
Siouxsie and the Banshees
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