A Vast and Progressive New Single From ÅHM
A single release from ÅHM delivers such a robust and lush soundscape in the form of a very cinematically driven alternative rock song that gives off such heavy-handed emotion and takes you on quite a boisterous musical Journey, all in the span of a 5-minute track that has its own atmosphere.
"Broken Beam" starts subtly. There is a certain delicate approach to how the song begins, and this is where some of the emotions start to roll in as well. Right from the start of this track, you already have a bit of that cinematic backbone coming into play; you can tell the vast undertone of the song is going to grow, and that spaciousness is a really important element to how the mood is portrayed.
The guitar work on this track is absolutely unreal. It's nothing over the top, but instead it focuses on amazing progressions and tones. The beginning of the song has a clean guitar tone, which gives off some great chord progressions, and this is a big part of what pulls you into the mood of the song in general.
The vocals, drums, and bass guitar all follow suit at the start. They all have this softness to them, because they're building up to a bigger, more explosive element. This is the calm before the storm.
Well, soon enough that storm hits, and when it does, you get a massive Sonic drive that again, is not super over the top, but rather focuses more on melody than anything else.
Don't get me wrong, it's heavy. It's a heavy riff, but it's progressive. The whole song is a progressive rock opus, of sorts.
When the heavy riff comes in, again it still stays melodically driving, and has such a deepening sense.
This is a song with layers to it. The vocals play a huge part in creating some of those layers and depth as well.
One of the things that really captured the song is how the vocals portray that sort of sun or sadness. It's something that feels somewhat hopeless. The melodies are beautiful, and the performances are almost elegant, in a sense.
Focusing on melodic approach and hooks that keep coming back to you, even the verses stick with you.
After that first heavy section, it goes back to another verse, and vocal harmony starts coming in. The harmonies are somewhat subtle; it's a two-part harmony, but it really adds thickness to everything.
The vocalist is amazing at pouring soul into the performance. He wants you to feel that mood, and there's a lot of emotion and inner thought that comes spilling out for all to soak in.
Another thing that sort of hit me about the single is the fact that it has an old-school feel. You can hear elements of early 2000s or even late 90s alternative and heavy rock approaches in the overall tone and songwriting of it.
There is a lot about this single that feels like it would have been on the radio during that time. I spent a lot of time listening to songs on the radio, which is where you heard songs back Then, and this really nailed that sort of aesthetic at certain parts of the song, especially.
I keep going back to the cinematic aspects of it. I feel like it's because of the heavy mood and how these guys put such a great progression into play. There's a lot of thought that went into the arrangement of the track, which is something that lets it flow and feel like it's alive and breathing.
One of my favorite parts is this bridge that comes in before the last burst of explosive chorus, and it's soft. It's a different progression. They do that stuff anymore, which is quite a shame, honestly.
The instrumental progression and melody are descending during this part, and so you feel that sort of downward spiral happening as it unfolds. There are also string-like keys that add even more depth to everything, giving you a slightly distant undertone.
As it breathes back into the main part of the song again, it feels somewhat theatrical.
The whole song gives you a bit of that sensation, actually. There's a theatrical underbelly to a lot of how the song feels and how the soundscape comes through.
Nothing is right in front of you. Even the vocals have a little bit of distance. They put just the right levels of reverb effect on everything to keep the track aesthetically where it needs to be.
You can tell whoever mixed the song understood the mission.
The drumming is something that doesn't just drive the song, but rather helps it breathe. The energy of the drummer and what he puts into the song is something I feel like the rest of the band pushes off of, in a way.
That was quite a beautiful thing, and again, as I mentioned earlier, that elegant vocal approach is something that feels dreamy.
The whole song kind of has an essence of what you feel in a dream. One of those dreams where you're falling and you know it's a dream, but you can't quite wake up yet.
I definitely love stuff like that, and it's amazing how these guys put it together so that it feels that way.
This is a track that really does capture its own atmosphere, and it pulls you away from whatever you're doing and whatever you are and puts you in this other world for a little chunk of time.
The blend of alternative rock edginess and a soft, delicate, graceful sort of progressions and tones really come together like puzzle pieces throughout this single, and they did an amazing job of having the whole thing feel natural.
Upon listening to this track, I definitely wanted to have a sit-down with the band and find out where this came from and what might be coming up next for them.
So, while you listen to this track, have a read through of our interview with ÅHM below.
- Hey and thanks so much for taking the time! Let's start with Broken Beam! This track was wove super well with that spacious undertone and edgy feel! Where did this song come from?
Broken beam actually started to take shape when I (Anders) played it with my old band "ahimsa" in the 90s but it was never recorded. Back then the song was less distorted and had a different beat and feel. I rewrote the lyrics when åhm picked it up for recording in 2025, and we made it into an åhm song. It’s really cool to experience this song coming alive (again) in the arms of Cribbe and me. The song was written in 1997 (-ish) and after having presented it to Cribbe it feels complete.
- I am hearing a few different styles on this track. Who are some of your biggest musical influences?
The main thing that makes our sound is that Cribbe and I come from completely different scenes in the music sphere. When we played in bands as teenagers and young adults, Cribbe was the drummer for various hardcore and metal/doom bands like Roswell and Circle Six. Heavy stuff. I have always played and sung, mostly guitar and bass, in bands with more influences from alternative rock/pop, and more atmospheric than hard/heavy and distorted. My biggest influences when it comes to writing and playing songs are bands like Radiohead, Nirvana, The Posies and the Norwegian band Motorpsycho.
Cribbe's biggest influences right now are Neurosis, and when it comes to drummers it's mainly Abe Cunningham from Deftones. In our song "Struggle" you can hear how Cribbe draws inspiration from Neurosis with his heavy and at the same time "dragging" drumming style.
Åhm is just the two of us, Cribbe and Anders, so we haven't had any gigs and don't have any shows planned since we would need to be at least two more dudes or dudettes on stage to make the songs justice . We've loosely talked about rehearsing with a couple of friends and until now it's just something we maybe saw ourselves doing in the future. We both, and certainly Cribbe, have been doing gigs in the past. We’re a new act on the scene but gigging would be fun!
- How did this all start for you as a band?
We grew up in the same city, Linköping, and played music at the same time and sometimes on the same stages during the 90s. But we were never friends. For a short period we played together in another friend's project band, Cribbe drums and me on bass, and that's where you could say we first met. This was more than 20 years ago. After that short period we didn't meet at all until the summer of 2023 when we recorded with another band (Interlace) together with Ulf Blomberg (@hoborec on instagram) in a studio outside Lund. Cribbe and I immediately felt that there was a common energy and nerve in our playing together, again Cribbe on drums and me on bass. We decided there and then that we would play together again, and make something new. There in the thoughts, conversations and music, åhm was born and we soon booked our first studio session. Our first EP ”THORNS” was recorded that autumn.
- Did you record this at a home studio setup, or a big studio?
We always have songs in the works. We record in a small studio at Skylten in Linköping, and all the mixing is done by me in my small home studio in Landvetter. We record drums and basic guitar live in the studio and then we add as much overdub as we can and have time for in the studio before we have to close down. The rest of the production is done by me at home, and there is a lot of sending of files between me and Cribbe before the mix is finished. Cribbe and I have as a plan to have at least one single ”almost done” when we release a song. At the moment we have about four songs ”in the vault” and we have more studio time this April…
- What kind of advice would you give to other up and coming bands trying to get heard?
It feels hard to give such tips when we ourselves have just left the studio. And we really don’t feel up and coming. Our goal is not to become big, famous, rich… we just want our music to reach as many people as possible. It's a cliché but that's how it is. If you want to focus on music, then that's probably the right thing to do. Focus on the purpose, the music . Don't do anything else, just make music. For those of us who are over 40 and have families with children, success with music is something else. In a way, it becomes quite undemanding. We make music when there is time for music. We meet, we talk, we play when we can, and we have fun doing it. If we get 1000 streams on a song, we’re happy with that. If we don't, we’re proud that we wrote and recorded the song. And we had fun doing it.
- What would you say people can expect to hear on this release?
If you mean ”Broken Beam” then it has already become an “old” song… But as with all our music you can expect a song that tries to dig deep. if it doesn’t dig deep into you, you should want to dig deep into the song. It doesn’t have to be the lyrics, but there should be a nerve and an energy that makes you not want to let go. That’s the energy that Cribbe and I try to capture in the studio and it’s in that incredible energy that Cribbe is at his best. He’s a hell of a force that beats the crap out of our songs.
- Before we go, what would you want to express to fans of the music?
If we have any fans, and if you are reading this, thank you for listening. It is not easy to reach out with your music today and for us, as a small band without a record label and management behind us (Cribbe handles all the promo), every little commitment from a private person is progress. We are grateful if our music evokes a feeling, if it makes a difference to someone's day, if it makes someone want to listen to Creed (ok maybe not) or if someone just thinks they heard an ”ok” song when åhm comes on Spotify by accident.
We’re grateful that we can make music.
And you should be grateful that we make it.
