Norway

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.

Oversikt over salgene: De beste kuppene nå

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

Facebook
Instagram

0 kommentarer

“Alt for Norge!”…as Jorn’s version song would say among so many other exaltations to dear Norway…here we are back to my beloved icy home and its multi-faceted wonders ready to be discovered to talk about our best men, today specifically about the Norwegian multi-instrumentalist MICHAEL KRUMINS and his debut solo album INFINITY, which was be released via MSK Records on March 24, 2023.

Michael Krumins photo by Vicky Athanassopoulou

But if on the one hand we are here to talk about new releases directly from the Nordic lands then on the other hand the question that remains is “Who is Michael Krumins?” and here is another one of those fantastic discoveries from these ends of the planet, Michael is a multi-instrumentalist born in the small and “mechanical” Moss, having shared his childhood in Vennesla, but who decided to live music in its purest essence, reaching the world in all directions and dedicating himself completely to this sound universe without imposing borders. Michael over the years has transformed experience gained into diversity and the vast knowledge gained from a master’s degree in music, tours across Europe and America and a multitude of captivating and experimental projects from Europe to Africa that brought it all to a musician with a resume so complete that a brief introduction becomes a complex explanation and just a brief overview of what INFINITY contains. But before I continue talking about this vertiginous album I want to remind you, dear readers, don’t be fooled by the serene image of this peaceful musician, Krumins is a machine, a machine producing music. In addition to having a brilliant musical and experimental journey, he is also one of the ingenious hands alongside the gothic metal band Sirenia and the power of the strings of the progressive rockers Green Carnation, so believe me, this album brings much more than music, but also life and experiences, flavors and smells, memories and culture, and a multitude of influences that at one time or another reach the listener, INFINITY is a generous piece of Krumins epitome and his legacy and arrives on the 2023 release menu in a promising way.

Now let’s move on to the album as if we were sitting at the table with a good wine being tasted for the first time, with a simple cover art created in partnership with the photographer Kostas Giokas and seven captivating tracks Krumins delivers to the public a delicious sound web with little more 43 minutes long, published and released on all digital platforms as well as on CD and vinyl, the vinyl with a worthy metal direct mastering. Composed in its entirety by Krumins and practically played in its entirety by even though, only the percussion was played by Californian Larry Salzman, INFINITY was recorded at MD studio in Athens, mixed in Dolby atmos by Christer Cederberg and mastered by Morgan Nicolaysen.

Light the candles, put on your best glass, dear readers, we start our tasting in the pulsating “Diamorphosis” with a mixed flavor of flamenco and Spanish culture fused with unique tones in a cheerful and lively trail that changes the atmosphere as well as the seasons of the year, and if we talk about atmosphere, then the atmospheric “Red Soul” takes its place next and leads the listener to slightly blackened lines and folkloric mixtures united with the progressive that is Krumins’ hallmark. At this point it is important to point out, Krumins made himself an adventurer through the world and through music, strongly connected by the Nutopia collective and overflowing with references from Arab, Balkan and Turkish genres, this musician are not afraid to be daring, traveling to the four corners of the earth and bringing the full baggage of cultures such as Tanzania and Mozambique, Krumins teases as he strums the lovely “Adio” where I can almost smell the sauces simmering in Tuscany, or the freshness of the gentle drizzle of my beloved Como, Italy.

INFINITY arrives at “Loneliness” with the delicacy that reminds me a lot of the lines of the dear musician Gustavo Santaolalla, icy strums and depressive melodies nailed to the crying guitar that send the listener to an infinity of sensations and for a second my mind is cut by curiosity about Krumins (giant musical growth, well, are we talking about a Norwegian, but in love with the world? Well, what a pleasant surprise!) and then for the comfort that tracks like “Transition” offer, almost as if snuggling the listener in a tight hug, simplicity that falls on “Stardust” too and puts the listener in a state of reflection so harmonious that I hope the album doesn’t come to an end, but, like everything that is good, this end is inevitable and we close our tasting at the last and tastiest gulp, the title track “Infinity” and the corpulence of its more than nine minutes is a spatial throw of shimmering atmospheres and ethereal sound. INFINITY proves itself in every detail, in every second, an extraordinarily rich and solid album, played in its entirety like a meticulously polished jewel and waiting to be discovered each time it is played.