Finally, new music from Okkultokrati! The band's upcoming album "Snakereigns" has been officially confirmed for release on October 26 via and they say that musically-speaking, it "is a great leap for the band," and that they build their songs "on straightforward punk beats with the filth of unholy rock n' roll running through their veins." As for the lyrical themes contained therein: "The end of the universe, the end of the world and the end of self." Yes, this is my most anticipated release of 2012.
reports that Haust, their first-ever signing, is back in action again after some lineup changes and is currently working on new material: http://www.fysiskformat.no/wp_ff/haust-is-here-again/
OG members Vebjørn Møllberg (vocals) and Pål Bredrup (bass, now guitar) remain, while Henrik Myrvold (Evolve, Problems, bass) and Øystein Wyller Odden (Uniforms & Dropouts, drums) are now on board.
has announced that they will be releasing the new Nils Bech 12" single "A sudden sickness" on June 29 with the album "Look inside" to follow this fall. Full details here, video coming soon.
The first taste of the upcoming"Bransjevelter 7" comp, coming out July 7 via . Note the new Tremoro Tarantura track which features Andreas Larssen from Deathcrush on drums and Zweizz on bass. Recommended!
will be releasing the 7th edition of their "Bransjevelter" compilation series on July 7 -- full tracklist + details here. As always, the lineup offers a diverse array of in-house acts from all genres as well as many other bands distributed via their affiliate .
This album in one sentence: Crusty grindcore d-beat from Bergen that sounds like crusty grindcore d-beat from everywhere else in Scandinavia. "Livstid" is a decent example of how all the good albums in this genre sound, although it is a genre that's severely marred by its limited scope for experimentation. That limitation inevitably means that the mark of a good album within this Skitsystem-ruled world is simply the ability to keep up with the Joneses. It also means that unless you're either a devoted follower of all things crust or someone brand new to the genre, pretty much everything will sound the same to you. "Livstid" is a little cleaner and makes more use of melody than a lot of the stuff out there and there's enough tempo variation within the album to keep it interesting, but it's still predominately blistering fast and nasty, like all of these albums are. If that's your bag and you're either the devotee or the novice, you'll dig it. - John Norby
2nd single from Norwegian prog/indie act Do You Love Melena?, a new act featuring members from Pow Pow and Rumble in Rhodos. Look for the band's self-titled debut "Marathon" to be released on April 20 via . RIYL Mew, Mars Volta and/or maybe Muse.
have added psychedelic black-metal act Furze to their roster and will be releasing the band's 5th album "Psych minus space control" on May 11 on both CD and LP.
Meshuggah djentiness + Genghis Tron Commodore-64iness – vox = Next Life.
The above equation is all you need in order to understand what "Artificial divinity" sounds like. For the purposes of review, however, I suppose I should give you an idea of its listenability. Well, it's alright; there's a bit of piddling about with sounds on a couple of tracks here, the results of which touch on a dark ambient sentiment more than any hint of conventional metal. Not that conventional really applies anywhere on "Artificial divinity", mind. Those tracks works very well as they stand on the album. The big let down on something that would be an otherwise killer album, though, is that the other tracks -- the metal stuff -- could really do with vocals of some sort. This style of metal just doesn't lend itself that well to instrumentalism, despite what the Norwegian trio might think. It has to be said, though, that even though Steve Wiebe doesn't really look like he's into metal, if he is, he's probably into this sort of stuff. Twelve songs in just over 20 minutes. Mental bunch of bastards! - John Norby
, the stellar in-house label of Oslo's likewise excellent Tiger Records Shop, has a nice new website: http://www.fysiskformat.no/
They are also taking a poll as to everyone's favorite release which will also enter you in a raffle to win 5 free albums of your choosing: http://fysiskformat.tigernet.no/wp_ff/poll/
Livstid
Next Life
