Another engaging release from the Oslo veterans who take on synth-based music filled with soaring melodies. This time, we talk about their debut full-length album, where beats enhance the swelling, expansive melodic themes.
Here at Veil of Sound, it has been a delight to have been given the chance to follow two veterans of the Oslo scene using their immense creativity to embark on new musical endeavors. We have watched (and listened!) — impressed — how well they have managed it. Here is a recap: Rule of Two is a duo consisting of Ronny Flissundet and Kristian Liljan, two seasoned musicians from the Norwegian metal underground (KITE, Damokles, Dunderbeist etc). In 2023, they decided that they wanted to use their creativity on another musical genre and make something with more melody than aggressiveness. Inspired by the 80s musical international scene they founded a band and called it Rule of Two. Under that moniker, they released the debut single Bygones and in 2024, their first EP, Drowning, which we also reviewed.
This creative streak led them into the musical realms of Dreampop, Synthpop, and Darkwave, based on electronic instruments with the added distorted guitar, among other instruments. And last but not least, what has become a trademark through the many singles and another EP (here an example from July 2025): the use of the flowing, gliding, fluid, and sometimes fleeting vocals. The voice has a firm and simultaneously silky timbre, sometimes singing in its own harmony. It is remarkable how it is immersed in the music and lays out the musical themes of each song. However hard the beats are, and however immense the sonic surges are, the calm melodic vocals are somewhere in there holding the musical theme together.
The musical project they started was to be a hobby-like side project, never to be performed live. But it has, as we here at Veil of Sound can bear witness to, grown into its own entity and now Rule of Two are sometimes performing live as a quintet with the two forming members as the driving force. And, as you can hear through the music of their first full-length, this is music that must be performed before a live audience. Even at home, with only your headphones or your loudspeakers in your living room, you can’t help but tap a foot, wiggle your hips, and take a few dance steps as many of the songs are not only catchy earworms because of the melodies, but the upbeat tempo on some of the songs just makes you want to do the moves as the beats and melodies hit you.
The main inspirations for the band are clearly the Happy Eighties, when Dreampop, Synthwave, and Synthpop was prevailing and dominating the scene AND the charts. Everything rooted in the electronic scene that emerged from Germany in the 70s, which some call Space Rock and others label more derogatorily as Krautrock. Anyway, Rule of Two has taken this further into 2025 and added their own twist. And of course, the year being 2025, some of the songs incorporate Darkwave parts, like they do when covering Radiohead’s ”Climbing Up the Walls”.
But let’s not dwell on the darker sides of the music here, because this is an all-over upbeat album. The first song, ”Without” urges you to grab your partner and dance to the beats, the melodies, and forget for a moment that the world is askew. It is impossible not to be swept away by the melody because it is so captivating and rhythmic that it is improbable not to sway your arms or to swirl your partner around at arms’ length.
The charming music continues, although a bit harder and heavier on ”Dolores”, even though it opens with an acoustic guitar, flowing vocals, and hollow drums. When the bass emerges, it becomes deep and heavy and then lifts itself up. It simmers down to a whispering part until it surges back with engaging harmonies in the complex mix of the song.
The kind of eerie opening of ”Speechless” is a contrast to the previous, but as soon as the beats hit you with the layered sounds and the wonderful, relaxed and gliding vocals repeating words, the song flows brilliantly along with a bass sound making a groove for the sound to follow. On the next song ”Cloud Nine” you will encounter Rule of Two´s version of a Wall of Sound in all the tidal moves. There is a detail that can also be found in other songs and is one more thing that makes the album so captivating; the discordant sonic elements that serve as counterpoints to said walls.
With the hard beats, the darker shades and all the counterpoints that keep you on your toes: The music on this album is not an emulation of the 80s or a simple cover, but a sequel – it shows how the 80s synth-based music can be developed into being relevant today with Rule of Two´s hard and multiple beats, soaring melodies and the darker streaks that you will encounter in songs like ”Speechless” or ”The Apocalypse In C Minor”. With so many things going on in the layers that both surround the musical themes and serve as a foundation for the flowing vocals, it could easily have been a mess if not for these experienced and creative musicians. They know exactly which buttons to push to make the music engaging and intriguing, but never boring.
We have more background on the band for you, even an interview with the band, talking about their music and inspirations and a playlist that shows these inspiration for the band´s music:
On their YouTube-page you can find the many kaleidoscopic many videos the band has released illustrating the themes of the songs.
