BLOT

“Howl from the North”

(Burning Skull Records)

by Jorge Patacas

Five years after their debut album, “Ilddyrking”, the Norwegian Black Metal band Blot returns with “Howl from the North”. For those who are not familiar with them, they were formed in 2007 in the southern city of Kristiansand and their lineup consists of Jan Åge Lindeland (vocals), Bent Orstad (lead guitar), Ruben Gentekos (rhythm guitar/backing vocals) and Stig Reinhardsten (drums) with the addition of Vald (bass/backing vocals live).
The album starts with one of the best tracks, “Taakens Ulmende Hyl”, which contains amazing riffs that put the listener right in the mood and asking for more.
“I Takt Med Fanden” has more folk/viking vibes on the general structure. That’s not a coincidence, since their songwriting is heavily inspired by folklore, history and nature. This can be noticed even more on tracks such as “Scales of Ancient Stride” and “Howl from the North”, where the melodies are perfectly combined with the overall aggression. Influences by the likes of Taake, Bathory, Windir and the mighty Dissection can be heard here and there throughout the 7-track release, but still Blot has managed to develop their own identity and that makes the whole experience much better. There’s quality and skills here.
“Howl from the North” certainly has all the elements to make Blot reach the larger audiences they deserve.
Check out their lyric video for the title track!

The Brazilian Black Metal duo ANDURÁ has just released their debut EP, “Dark Myths from Brazilian Forests”, which is available to listen to on YouTube and Bandcamp

ASTRA

“Oathkeeper – Part 1”

(Eufonia Records)

by Jorge Patacas

Astra is a new two-man project based in Oslo, Norway. As the story goes, the multi-instrumentalist Sondre Ramstad Paulsen started to work on his own songs while he was still a teenager back in 2012 after not being accepted into the music school and being told he wasn’t good enough for his friends band, which, ironically, included the other current member of Astra, his childhood friend William Strengelsund. They both reunited in 2016 and ended up working together as a duo on the majority of the songwriting with Strengelsund providing the vocals. Their debut concept album “Oathkeeper – Part 1” is an epic journey into the ancient land of Kalgard, a saga that’s being told through ten songs of which three are instrumentals. Musically, it sounds pretty solid and interesting to keep the listener hooked on. It’s a Symphonic Metal album, yet we can easily find influences from Progressive and even Power and Melodic Death Metal with vocals ranging from clean to screaming. Every instrument is placed on the right place according to the climate each song requires and the catchy choruses will make the experience even more enjoyable.
The album will be released on April 3rd and you can listen to their first single “Hammerdown” below!

Coming from Moldova, Infected Rain has been around since 2008 and recently signed a contract with Napalm Records to release their fourth album “Endorphin” that came out in 2019. Just hours before their first show in Norway, we got the chance to interview their vocalist Lena Scissorhands (whose real name is Elena Cataraga) about the new material, going in depth on some of the lyrics, their influences, social media and more!

RISE!: – Let’s talk about the latest album, “Endorphin”, that’s an interesting title, since it involves emotions, we feel good when they’re released through different activities. And I think it’s a very important topic specially these days where there are records of people suffering from anxiety and depression. Did you think of it considering this as a general issue or you just wanted to share your own personal feelings at the time you were writing the album?

Lena Scissorhands: It was kind of both, to be honest. This whole album is very unique because of how emotional and personal it is. All of the songs I’ve written so far were very personal and they were about what I’ve been through or what’s going on in my life, but this one in particular is different because I was experiencing very new feelings and situations that I was never prepared for, and it was pretty depressing for me and not very easy times for sure.
We thought about this name, first of all, because of how it protects our body. Endorphins were discovered after some experiment with electricity, after pain. Our body releases endorphins to calm us down, to make us happier and protect us from that pain. So that’s why we thought it was perfect, because of all the themes on the songs of this album.
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Eluveitie, Lacuna Coil and Infected Rain joined forces for a European tour by the end of 2019. One of their last stops was Oslo, so some hours before the show, we met their vocalist Fabienne Erni, who joined the band in 2017 and already recorded two albums with them, “Evocation II – Pantheon” (2017) and the recently released “Ategnatos” (2019). We discussed all things Eluveitie but also her other projects, her past, childhood, dreams and a lot more!

RISE!: – I guess you haven’t been in such a long tour before. How are you dealing with the life on the road?

Fabienne Erni: It’s going really, really well. I mean, now we’re actually on our fourth last show and I had my ups and downs, you know? I was a bit scared like “ok, it’s gonna be winter, so am I going to catch a cold?”, and then if I would, how do I cope with it when I have to sing everyday, and all of that. But it went really well, I was just a little bit sick, but still it was fine and now for me the tour could go on for two weeks or so, I have energy and I really enjoy it, specially being here in the north. I’m a huge Scandinavian fan and I took a walk today, the sun was out and it was just so good! (laughs)

R!: – You were lucky actually because the sun hasn’t been out in a long time before today (laughs).

FE: Really?! We were so lucky then, I think we had like two hours of sun now, and we took a walk, went to the sea, the castle thing and the Christmas market of course. This is what gives me energy too, just taking these walks, see different cities, catching some sun because otherwise when you sit in the club all day long, that doesn’t work. So we’re really having a good time and I’m gonna be a bit sad because it’s gonna be over and it will be a huge change because you’re surrounded by so many people all the time and at home you’re just alone again or with your family or friends, and that’s it.
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