Top 3 Records - VoS-related Norna - s/t A dazzling heavy sludgy high-velocity album with an imploding ambiance.
Still - A Theft A hefty sophomore album with a barrage of heavy, discordant Post-Metal music.
Partholón - The Ocean Pours In A stunning Atmospheric Sludge Metal album intertwining the lyrics and with the swelling, undulating, thunderous music with subtle and sublime details.
TOP5 Not written about
Witch Club Satan - s/t The Norwegian female trio has become a Black Metal phenomenon with their 80s black metal infused with inspiration from punk and spewing out their feminist power and agenda through unforgettable blood-filled shows. Not to be missed. Aptly released March 8.
Vemod - The Deepening A mighty Atmospheric Sludge/Black Metal album with great prolonged songs from a reemerging Norwegian band.
Andrey Novozhilov - Twilight’s Embrace The guitarist from TRNA and Olhava once more delivers an album with emotional dark ambiance and blackgaze with this hour-long one-track album using his guitar in unpredictable ways.
Nightwish - Yesterwynde It’s not exactly underground and not what we usually write about, but allows me to have a soft spot for the Finns with their awesome orchestrations, u-turns, and swelling pathos.
Unverkalt - A Lump Of Death: A Chaos Of Dead Lovers A sophomore avantgarde metal album that takes inspiration from the 70s criminals and serial killers with intriguing musical turns and shifts to accompany the haunting and strong female vocals.
Top 3 Concerts
Slomosa: I saw them three times in 2024, last time in Oslo at a concert that was sold out two months before (they held three in Oslo that week due to high demand). I once more got the chance to trip the light fantastic together with the band and the audience, added with crowd surfing and mosh pits.
Agabas: A young Norwegian sextet playing extreme and tumultuous Death Jazz that culminates in a wild rush of adrenaline-fueled aggression as they say. themselves And boy, do they deliver that on stage in wild and sweaty performances engaging the audience in dancing, moshing, and sing-alongs. The last time I saw them they almost knocked out Kvelertak who they supported.
Ufomammut held two gigs at a small venue in Oslo. It was heavy, dense, sweaty and a thrill to once more see and meet the band. Performing their intricate Psychedelic Sludge Stoner Doom Metal with a vigor that left the audience breathless (and hard of hearing for a day).
