Thanks to the allmighty MACHINE FUCKING HEAD's legendary discussion board, The Fronlines, on their website, I had a very fortunate privilege to thurst my metal horns into this new great Norwegian band, formed in Oslo three years ago, including one member of the forum, Marius Skarsem Pedersen (guitars and vocals). Besides Marius aka Maggai, ASPHERIUM consists of drummer Bjorn Tøre Erlandsen (drums), who are also in death metal band ABNORMAL with Marius, by the way and worth to check out too, and bassist Torgeir Lyby Pettersen, who also does backing vocals.
Anyway, fast-forward to the year 2009. The first demo, The Lingering Animosity, which is on heavy rotation in my barn at the moment, had just been recorded and then couple of months later, in September, a second guitarist, Morten Nielsen, was added to the line-up. Currently playing live gigs, ASPHERIUM is one of the most talented and innovative bands I've heard in ages, always giving something new to the listener. And just like their fellow country heroes EMPEROR and Swedish OPETH, ASPHERIUM does their music with high talent and potential to grow bigger and bigger by time. Yes, scandinavian metal music fucking rules!
When I first heard the track Dawn of Apocalypse Rising, I instantly wanted to buy their albums, EPs, singles and whatever they had been released. As many as there would be, it didn't matter, I had to have their music! But I found out that first of all they are still without a record deal and the only released album is hard-to-find promo-CD. What the Fabio! Like EVER CIRCLING WOLVES, also visited here in my metal barn earlier and still in demo plus live gig phase, definitely needs more and more support and more success, luck and attention from both metal music fans and media. They deserve it!
So, only one demo under their imagenary bullet pelts and church ash-smelling corpse paints, it is a shame that great bands like ASPHERIUM gets stuck and hidden behind total shit, bollock and garbage of other so called metal acts and MySpace horrors and nightmares. I'm not saying ASPHERIUM will be the next EMPEROR or OPETH or even continutation for Finnish INSOMNIUM, but give these guys a chance and be amazed, just like I was an still am. But for a teenager who has never heard of the bands mentioned above, ASPHERIUM just might become their very own OPETH and/or EMPEROR. If I trust these guy, you better trust 'em too! ...and give them all the support and credit they deserve. Just put your hooves and horns up, say MOOARGH! and enjoy.
While the guys themselves might be horrendous troll look-a-likes, cod-munching, church-burning, oil-abusing, slalom fuckers, their music fucking owns...and rips your, my and everybody's ugly turf! I'll give you now three reasons why:
1. Dawn of Apocalypse Rising
ZYKLON meets KEEP OF KALESSIN meets OPETH.
The opening track is the most brutal song on the promo. First minute and 36 seconds goes fast, really bursting out that Norway metal mayhem into your ears, and that's not the only fun part here. After the first part of the song, imagine a big horde of angry (and horny) bulls loping towards you, earth bouncing, you are afraid...and then those crazy behemoths brake in front of you just to listen to the great solo around 2:40 and those lovely double basses with you...smile on everybody's snout. Nice indeed. Fucking ace.
2. World on Fire
The second track shows the so called metalcore side of the band and introduces also some vocal lines made familiar by bands such as KILLSWITCH INGAGE and ALL THAT REMAINS, for example. This song, to be honest, is not the way I want this band to develope but the main thing that caught my attention is again the great guitar work and the ending that sets a big foot to the floor and crushes all, everyone and everything, that dares to come in front.
Like some of the songs in IN MOURNING's catalogy, this song has a lot of potential to be very very very good and exciting but some minor parts in it make it sound a bit too fluff, meaning it's too darn plain and it lacks that something extra ingredient to be more distinguishable. Good song, no doubt, but doesn't really set my world, or even my barn, on fire.
3. Blackpoint Millenium
Now here we go again cowboys and cowgirls!
Did I mentioned the word epic here already?
Yes, but not enough: E-FUCKING-PIC!
This is it, this is the song that defines ASPHERIUM. If all melodic death metal songs would be like this, I wouldn't have any troubles finding excellent music for my barn dances. Just listen to those growls in the intro part, reminds me a lot of NEUROSIS and ZATOKREV.
There's also acoustic parts, and structures and song parts made known by ENSLAVED's new songs. And now the clean vocals and harmonies sound something else than those emo-whining fag pussies. This song has the real emotion I look for. This song IS Norway at night time when you frolic down the fjords alone, only a moon as your companion. A song that stands for letters, E, P, I and C.
While there's a lot of examples to other bands (as always in my texts), they are only meant as a guiding lines. ASPEHRIUM stands already(!) firmly on their hairy(?) feet but you can clearly hear the influences and this final track shows the best parts of ASPHERIUM and how well the band twines different elements together and make them sound a big, massive song without trying too much or pushing it too far away from their own area, but still sounding hungry and wanting more and more. ...and cod damn those guitars! Awesome.
So, there you have it.
Take it or cry and take it.
It's Norway or the highway.
I won't you give you a second chance as a matter of fact, you WILL take it!
I really am on my trollway...
Good luck and all the best for these guys, trolls, or whatever beasts they even are.
Only cod knows...
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