Svalbard (band)

Svalbard
Svalbard in Lausanne, Switzerland in 2023. From left to right: Liam Phelan, Serena Cherry, Mark Lilley and Matt Francis.
Background information
Origin	Bristol, England, UK
Genres	Post-hardcore post-metal
Years active	2011–present
Labels	Tangled Talk Holy Roar Through Love Halo of Flies Translation Loss Tokyo Jupiter Church Road Nuclear Blast
Spinoffs	Noctule
Members	Serena Cherry Mark Lilley Liam Phelan Matt Francis
Past members	Mike Thompson Ben Thomas Christian Prince Tony James Zac Birchley Adam Parrish Alex Heffernan
Website	svalbard.bandcamp.com

Svalbard are a British post-hardcore band from Bristol, England. Formed in 2011 by co-lead vocalists and guitarists Serena Cherry and Liam Phelan with drummer Mark Lilley, the band's line-up has featured bassist Matt Francis since 2020. Primarily exhibiting a post-hardcore and post-metal sound, the band's style features elements of black metal, crust punk, post-rock and shoegaze.

Following the release of early material compiled on the compilation album Discography 2012–2014 (2015), Svalbard were signed to Holy Roar Records in January 2015. They released two albums, One Day All This Will End (2015) and It's Hard to Have Hope (2018), before parting ways with Holy Roar and moving to Church Road Records three weeks before the release of When I Die, Will I Get Better? (2020), due to sexual misconduct allegations against the label's founder. Svalbard's fourth album and first for Nuclear Blast Records, The Weight of the Mask (2023), was released on 6 October 2023.