HEAVY MUSIC can come from anywhere. But perhaps more than in any other genre, like-minded metal bands tend to congregate into scenes, and those scenes come to define the heavy sound of their towns.
There’s Bay Area thrash. New Orleans is famous for sludge. Tampa’s a death-metal town. Here in Portland, we’re becoming known for doom.
The state of New Hampshire isn’t exactly a heavy-metal hotspot. As such, bands like Vattnet Viskar, a fast-rising quartet from Plaistow, New Hampshire (population 7,609), never quite have the opportunity to be assimilated into a local sound.
That’s New Hampshire’s way. And it suits Vattnet guitarist Chris Alfieri just fine.
“Being from [New Hampshire] definitely gives us a certain mindset. Our state motto is ‘Live Free or Die,’ and that’s something we really take to heart,” he says. “I didn’t appreciate that motto as much until recently, but it is a way of life at this point.”
Five years and two excellent albums into its existence, Vattnet Viskar has established itself as a band that makes exactly the kind of music it wants to make.