Sophomore records tend to come with a lot of discussion about lightning. Will it strike in the same place twice? Can it be caught in a bottle for a second time? Those conversations only amplify if the debut got any attention around it.

And in the case of Swedish goth doomers, Shaam Larein, they certainly got attention. Their debut record Sculpture got them some festival slots and drew praise from some significant names—including the modern queen of goth doom herself, Chelsea Wolfe.

Now on Svart records, Shaam Larein is tasked with whatever manner of lightning wrangling they can muster. Sticka en Kniv I Världen (Swedish for “stick a knife into the world”) doesn’t just strike twice: it’s a full on thunderstorm.

As current goth doom It band™, the group use all the tropes of the genre you’d expect them to. Guitars churn droning chords, the riffs restricted to the space of a few frets. The rhythm section rarely jumps past midtempo, allowing the monochromatic atmospheres to bloom. Eponymous vocalist Shaam Larein delivers meditations on grief and emotional despair in a velvety croon that betrays her background in theater and her Syrian heritage as she employs Middle Eastern scales in her sonorous melodies.

Of course, detractors of goth rock won’t find much to change their minds. But for fans of the genre, this is a wonderful addition to the canon. There’s the obvious comparison to Chelsea Wolfe, but there are also bristling spikes of post punk like Siouxsie and the Banshees’ brand of goth rock. As dour as it is, it’s not insular. There’s an openness to it that feels almost like party music—but like the party in a vampire movie or something. This isn’t an album to listen to in the dark while lying on the floor—it’s too propulsive for that. At the same time, it’s not universally appealing to all dance floors.

Of particular note though is the closer “Massacre,” which is the most urgent thing here. It opens with the drums tapping an urgent tempo on the ride and snare while clean guitars flit above an organ drone. It almost feels like jazz, until it explodes into a heavy chorus. It moves between the two poles for six minutes without ever losing its urgency.

In the end, Shaam Larein manages to avoid the sophomore slump by sticking to what works—and it works dang well. This record certainly isn’t for everyone, but for those in the target market, it’s a gift.

Sticka en Kniv I Världen is out now through Svart Records.

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