Lifting the memories of 80s and 90s synth-based music and fusing it with Indie influences and modern Darkwave. I did not see that coming from two long-serving musicians from the Oslo metal underground.
Or one should not be surprised, as these musicians - as others here in Oslo - are immensely creative always looking for new outlets for their creativity. New bands emerge, collaborations, guest appearances, and side projects. Rule of Two is a new musical project by Ronny Flissundet and Kristian Liljan known for bands like KITE, Damokles, and Dunderbeist among others. With this project, they seek other avenues for their creative outlet based in Darkwave and the 80s Dream Pop.
The result is a multifaceted genre blender as they have an anarchistic take on the Darkwave genre. Flissundet’s dreamy ethereal vocal is sublime as it floats through the layers of melodic Electronic music. They use the Electronics along with the beats and guitar to conjure different emotions for each song. For the songs, Liljan has made mesmerizing kaleidoscopic videos (You will also find the elegant lyrics by Flissundet below the videos on their YouTube channel, see below).
The musicians orchestrate the layered music to give a certain modern timbre as it drifts through your ears. There are hard beats, strumming guitars, and glissading synths making up for engaging rhythmic melodies. In every song, there is a surge of the music, lifting the clear soundscape and embracing the drifting almost translucent vocals.
When using electronics, some bands tend to drag out the song´s length. But not on this EP, they are tight with subtle shifts in the flow, building up small crescendos as in ”Something in the Way”. The Electronica-based melody flows like a dark stream below the vocals with synthesizer celloes. Then the instruments all melt together and lift the melody to an engaging glimmering chorus with layered vocals.
The title song, ”Drowning” is a wonderful four-and-a-half-minute long song that contains so much subtlety and layered themes that I had to check if it wasn´t longer when I came out the other end of its running time. It captures the emotions the cover induces astoundingly. As the music proceeds, it lifts itself up towards an engaging melody with the sense of a long-lasting chorus, the music surging with the vocals and drifting fast forward, getting ever stronger. The song shifts into an engaging, rhythmic pace with beats and a low-end distorted grooving bass thrusts the music forward. The sound of bongo drums even purveys a certain timbre of Latin rhythms. Out of these sonics, the music opens up even more and gives you the sense of an Eastern 1001-night mood at the very end.
On their YT channel you will find their videos and lyrics, and you will discover more of the dark undertow of the music. ”Baygones is an emotional song about loss, ”Elusive Infinity” is an atheistic rebel song that questions religion´s power to destroy, and ”The Hulk” focuses on what we learned from the TV-series in the 80s (and the Marvel universe): “Some heroes are villains. Some villains are heroes. Most people are a bit of both”, as the band has said about the song.
And now enjoy our interview with Ronny and Kristian as we talk about a lot of different things, including Star Wars, the differences between Rule of Two and their other projects and much much more!
Shirts of the Day: fIRESIDE, Dunderbeist, Noorvik
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