Metal

Don’t take your eyes off the radar, 2025 has arrived as a heavy year for releases and several names popping up on the scene and obviously Norway is not left out of the game, after all, whether some like it or not, the strongest export product of the lands of Odin continues to be the good old metal, and among so many new things here are some well-known guys that I already had the pleasure of talking about in 2022 and now they are back for the release of

“FAR OUT AND BEYOND” on April 9, 2025, we are talking about the metalizers from Bergen ONCE AWAKE, and their ingenious enhanced Groove Metalcore mixed with Melodic Death metal that does not disappoint.

“FAR OUT AND BEYOND” presents itself as a solid release of just over 33 minutes in length with fast and precise tracks, simplistic but assertive cover art and showing a much more mature and conscious band, both sonically and in vibrant lyrics and melodies, definitively proving that my observation back then was firm and consistent. ONCE AWAKE is far from being just garage boys making noise, quite the opposite, these guys know very well what they want and very well where they want to go, and they are certainly not messing around.

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The album is the band’s fifth full-length and a few tracks have already floated before live and on the guys’ channels, such as “Lost In A Maze” which even got an official video, or “Inner Fight” which already has a lyric video available.

But enough talk, let’s get to the point, “Where’s All The Silence Gone” opens the album with a merciless kick in the door to blow up your speakers and boil your veins. The track goes from intriguing sound effects to brutal sounds and outlined guitars, explosive riffs and visceral vocals that efficiently captivate the listener in a fraction of a second, all to take us to the atmospheric and chaotic “Burning Wishes.” Here, the drums and guitars put on a show of their own, in a growing and impressive evolution. Frode Hennø knew how to take advantage of his years of experience and delivers touching lyrics in vocals without fear of daring, and you even find a very unexpected ending on the keyboard that I simply loved. And here is where I come to one of my favorite tracks on this release, “Injustice“, which pushes the album’s vibes forward and you even get a chorus that will surely bring an energized audience. Forget all that blah blah blah about technique and embellishments that you see out there, here you are getting a full menu of what the audience really wants to hear, catchy tracks for you to scream in unison, jump, get into the mosh and release your frustrations, your immediate escape valve, after all this is the best essence of metal. And believe me, you will even be caught off guard by stringed guitar in the midst of the violent unleashing of this track. Perfect work, my friends… perfect!

“Trail Of Chaos” will follow suit with fast drums, and for those who have seen the guys cover P.O.D in the past, there will be some big surprises, with blackened vocals pulsing hard, machine-gun tempo and an impressive continuous evolution. Hans and Andrè go crazy at this point, delivering insane guitars, which will take you to “Meeting The End” without any pain. As I said, the band keeps a continuous evolution on all sides with very little respite.
Joy, joy, what a powerful guitar solo, fast, short, but very fun, I dare say that this track delivers a little bit of everything in metal without going overboard, in the same way that it will travel to “Kill The Concern” and its atmospheric plains. I’m sorry, dear readers, I’m not here to give you a burlesque critical analysis to delight “specialized” and journalistic media, I’m here to bring you sensations and the impression of a listener passionate about good music, oh… and what a relief to listen this… I haven’t listened such an invigorating album in a long time.
Nowadays the metal scene has become so inhospitable that sometimes we even forget how fun it can be to listen to metal, so obviously I’m happy to find a recharge of energy in “Inner Fight” or “Lost In A Maze“, where every instrument is exactly where it should be.

We end our trip by decompressing with “Apollo“, and WOW…damn… what a sensational album! It wasn’t enough to electrify our metal essences, it wasn’t enough to deal with feelings, it wasn’t enough to deliver the catharsis of these brilliant musicians, they also delivered an instrumental track worthy of scenarios like Interstellar movie, what a wonderful ending, here’s your technique, ladies and gentlemen!

The evolution of such versatile and intriguing musicians in their raw state. It’s at times like these that I’m proud to belong to Rock and Metal, blessed be the sons of Odin again, and like it or not, Norway continues to consolidate itself in metal as strong as ever.
Well…so is this a 10, reviewer? Oh Yeah! This is a long overdue and grateful 10 after three years since our last talk about ONCE AWAKE, and I hope you don’t waste any time and give this album a listen, and enjoy it because these guys are going to be on the road for a new UK tour soon. Then get them!

Congratulations, Once Awake! You guys deserve it.

See you!

RATE: 10/10

RELEASE – April 9, 2025

TRACK LISTING
1. Where’s All The Silence Gone
2. Burning Wishes
3. Injustice
4. Trail Of Chaos
5. Meeting The End
6. Kill The Concern
7. Inner Fight
8. Lost In A Maze
9. Apollo

LINEUP
Frode Hennø – Vocal
Hans Petter Solen – Guitar
Ørjan Paulsen – Drums
Andrè Kongestøl Solberg – Guitar

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A long hiatus and here we are again, sailors! The world continues to turn and we move forward navigating through the “multiverse of music” to brave the latest frontiers of releases, and today I resume my reviews with the Norwegians from Bergen ONCE AWAKE, and their eponymous album released independently on November 23, 2022, by the way, here’s the suggestion for contracting frontiers (A&R’s, come on!), these guys deserve a little more, don’t you think?

Maybe ONCE AWAKE is not a new name sounding to European ears, after all the guys performed at the very first Knotfest live streaming festival ‘Pulse Of The Maggots’ alongside some good ones like Orbit Culture and Vended, added to that is also the third album “Bridgeburner” released in 2020 which brought some international recognition, this all during the pandemic, but if we think a little more outside the box then there is a lot of information to provide yet, these astute lads have been spinning non-stop on the scene since the early 2000s in a frenetic mix of the wave of American bands with the epitome of Norwegian melodic death metal for which the country became embedded in the metal scene, and this is without a doubt one of those bands where structure is something formidable, yes, because while I still come across aspiring rock star dreaming of a fantasy career these guys here are down to earth and have a really strong sense of responsibility.

Hans, Frode, Ørjan and Andrè are a troupe that strive to deliver a good product to the listeners and take it seriously, everything is absolutely chewed up and available to the public and that’s great, on top of all that the band keeps so solid and united in these years, for me it sounds almost like a miracle among so many that change members every month. But, but, let’s put past aside for a bit and focus on the present, after all we are here to talk about the fourth album and “Once Awake” already arrived with beautiful and straight cover art on 11 tracks with a total of little more 45 minutes, and we’ll pause at this point to say, “My Deed” becomes a sharp can opener kicking off the album, and to top it off the band even released the official video, so don’t delay to check it out!

“My Deed” is a chunky track of dense guitars and frantic drums, the vocals may still be very core-line but mind you, we’re not talking about boys here, the vocal structure is intense and mature, all the instrumentation sounds crystal clear and the production sounds elaborate enough to make us look forward to discovering what we’re going to find next.
I don’t need to spoil anyone, I recognize good work when I hear it and “Bury Your Soul” exposes this even more, another fast and explosive track, steeped between metalcore and a kind of “modern death” metal, ONCE AWAKE becomes alchemistic and plays with layers and elements, “Meet The Maker” just continues the course despite sounding more like a sequel than a new track and “Crown” doesn’t differ much from that. You see, ONCE AWAKE is the type of band with strong fists, as I said, well structured, although this I miss a little daring, we need to be honest, sometimes you need to go a little further.

I remember listening to a cover of P.O.D that ONCE AWAKE recorded not long ago, it made me remember how hybrid some bands can become and it makes us want to categorize them into just one genre, that’s where we end up getting lost, after all, at what point do alternative metal, nu metal, metalcore and melodic metal get so far apart when musicians put everything together in a blender and mix it up without caring? Follow for example “Ashes of an Enemy” or “Blinded to Remind” and try to define them! But most importantly, “Once Awake” is an honest and carefully composed album, heavy in proportion and full of quality, even if there’s not as much adrenaline or surprises along the way it still sounds certainly fair, the kind you can listen all day without disturbing. Everything is where it should be and you can hear every member and instrument clearly without difficulty. What I can conclude is that this band has been on the road for a long time and has followed a good path, maybe the next step? Have you ever heard that a diamond needs to be polished? It defines everything! Anyway don’t let these guys go unheard, they work hard, babe! They work hard!

Highlight for “Trudelutt” and “Sculpture“.

RATE: 8,5/10

RELEASE – November 23rd, 2022

TRACK LISTING
1. My Deed
2. Bury Your Soul
3. Meet the Maker
4. Crown
5. Ashes of an Enemy
6. Sculpture
7.B linded to Remind
8. Alive
9. Shadows Ascend
10. Trudelutt
11. 585 (Essen, Germany 2022 Live)

LINEUP
Frode Hennø – Vocal
Hans Petter Solen – Guitar
Ørjan Paulsen – Drums
Andrè Kongestøl Solberg – Guitar

RELATED LINKS
SPOTIFY – “Once Awake” (2022)

Kategori: Metal

Musikkanmeldelse (Review): Once Awake – Far Out And Beyond (2025)

Musikkanmeldelse (Review): Once Awake – Once Awake (2022)