Tag: Norway

Impossibly difficult to categorize into any nice, neat genre, Norway’s Drottnar originally formed as Vitality, in 1996. They began playing death metal, but changed names when their sound shifted towards black metal. The band’s sound continued to evolve more and more, incorporating progressive and technical elements into something more avant-garde over time, while still retaining elements of black metal, death metal, and other extreme sounds. It is this level of experimentation and excellence that both sets them apart from their peers musically, and simultaneously makes their music less accessible to the general populace of listeners–even amongst fans of heavy music.… Continued →

Grave Declaration is (was?) a symphonic/atmospheric black metal project from Norway. While that’s not so unusual, what set the band apart was its distinct emphasis on worship. Self-touted as “worship metal” the band’s lyrical emphasis was on a praiseworthy connection to the Creator. Their sound is firmly within the atmospheric branch of black metal, as opposed to the more raw, primitive sounds often associated with the genre. With ties to stalwarts Antestor, and underground legends Vaakevandring, Grave Declaration had the pedigree and the chops to prove their worthiness.… Continued →

This Norwegian band formed in 1999, and sadly by 2007 had called it quits. Hailing from Nannestad, just outside Oslo, they played a formed of atmospheric BM that appealed to many who heard them. While their lifespan was short, their impact was huge. You can still read accolades from fans on music-related social media pages, and band members have also been associated with a number of other, more well-known bands including Antestor, Frosthardr, and Grave Declaration. “Some Day” is taken from their 3-song self-titled demo CD, which was also re-issued a few years later by Momentum Scandinavium with an extra song as Vaakevandring.… Continued →

I’ve reviewed 3 different releases from Shadow Puncher (for 2 different publications), and one of the things I’ve noticed is the diversity of sounds and influences on each project. While the one-man band from Norway functions within the death metal genre, each release has a different feel. The earliest material had a strong thrash influence, then moved into a djent-heavy sound. This EP is the first to utilise keyboards in a prominent way, thus adding a progressive element. After a 1-minute ambient keyboard intro, “One End of Heaven” rips into the speakers with brutal rhythms, blastbeats and plenty of time changes.… Continued →

When Extol’s first album came out in 1998, the Christian hard music scene had been dominated by hardcore and the then-developing metalcore sound. This was being spearheaded prominently by labels like Solid State Records (a division of Tooth & Nail), and Facedown Records. Enter Norway’s Extol. No one quite knew what to do with them. Sure, there was still an active underground metal scene, but Solid State had not signed any heavy metal bands yet–only hardcore bands that dabbled in metal. But Burialwas a full-on heavy metal cacophony, bridging subgenres–progressive, black, thrash and death metal–often within one song.… Continued →

While this is being described by the label as “Norwegian death metal”, honestly that is a bit misleading.  To my ears, what we have here is a hybrid form of extreme metal.  For instance, you have some down-tuned nu metal rhythms, but they’re heavier than most.  The drum machine lends itself to an almost industrial-meets-groove-metal feel.  Think somewhere between Lucid and Malformed Earthborn, but lighter on the glitches and samples.  Genre-wise this is either really heavy nu-metal or generically “extreme metal.” The first song (if we don’t include the spoken opening track) has a really annoying “bree bree bree” section that I really hope is a poor attempt at humor, as it really seems to serve no other purpose. … Continued →