So I wanted to discuss Norwegian death metal with you guys, because it's just awesome and not that well known. I'm not sure if you can even talk about a scene, as I can't see any common sound or aesthetic like you do/did in Finland and Sweden (which I find awesome and sucky respectively). At the same time, Norway has a few simply amazing death metal acts and the most common factor seems to be that they're all slightly off or weird compared to some of the more well known stuff out there. Here's a few of my favorites.

Molested - Blod Draum

This is what I imagine Portal to have sounded like if the had played a bit more straight sounding death metal in 1995. Bee swarm guitars, super crazy drumming, vague growls, total frenzy. Very atmospheric all the way even though it's basically 90's grindy death metal carnage with a weird interlude here and there. The kind of album that really gains something from being listened to in it's entirety.

Following the Growls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2BcPe0tX1o

A Strife Won at Wrath (it's the first song - this link is to the entire album)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfGr3lGuuGY

Shaarimoth - Current 11


These guys are crazy. Cultish and ritualistic death metal, one of my favorites from the 2000-2010 period, which somehow seems very clean sounding to me even though the guitars can be kinda 'buzzy' sometimes. Nothing like the atmospheric OSDM-revival sound of yesteryear which drips in murky darkness (though I'm also a sucker for that stuff). Chanting and ambient interludes abound, a little melodic at times. It's funny how the band just made one album and then disappeared, which sucks major balls, because they don't sound like much other stuff out there.

Utukki Limnuti (Summoning of the Seven)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QRInANpXmg

It Came From the Desert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jya08P8qb6g

Execration - Odes of the Occult

I have really trying to namedrop these guys as often as possible ever since I discovered their amazing second album two years ago, definitely my favorite record of 2011. One hour of crazy, crazy shit that sounds like you collided Autopsy into Blut Aus Nord at high speeds at a Voivod koncert. Dissonant as fuck, just as heavy, atmospheric and headbangable at the same time. Great song writing, you never know to expect going into their songs. I was lucky enough to catch these guys at last years Kill Town Death Fest, where they just blew me away, even though it was the band I was most looking forward to.

Left in Scorn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6OxbVlVQwU

A Crutch for Consolation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W13qacGM740


Of course I also love the first three Blood Red Throne albums, and Darkthrone's Soulside Journey is in my top 10 of all time albums, but this stuff is pretty well known, so, I showed you mine now let's see yours.

EDIT: Fixed wrong link

You've covered pretty much everything I know and love. I agree with the praise of Execration, excellent band with a few insanely good songs. I found out about them randomly when trying to add extra stuff to an order of Diskord albums I was grabbing from their label, one of the better blind buys I've had. On the topic of Diskord, they're pretty good, they lack a good flow which stops me from loving them, but they have some interesting ideas. Definitely a scene I should try more of at any rate.

I don't overtly pay attention to the countries much of my stuff comes through. I mean eventually I learn it when I spend more and more time with it. So I'd have to really go through and look. But I have to thank you for this Shaarimoth, I had not heard of them before and I'd love to find this album now.

And that Execration is so damn good, and everytime I look at that album cover, I just see a ton of decrepit amps stacked up and really that's a better image to me whan what it really is.

I know of few Norwegian death metal bands, but Shaarimoth are amazing, and Execration's been one of those bands I've been meaning to check out for ages! I've heard nothing but good things about Odes of the Occult. But yes, Shaarimoth! My favourite track off their album is probably Come Mother Come: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WElytkdFjmg and the part starting at 2:35 onwards is just ridiculously good.

Such a strange band though, they seem to have popped out of nowhere, released one full length album (no demos or EPs or anything), then just disappeared. They're still listed as active on the archives, and call me overly optimistic, but they have a new banner on their fb page. Maybe, just maybe, they're intending on releasing something in the near future? Total speculation on my part but I can dream.

You didn't mention Obliteration or Cadaver?

Obliteration is alright, though I don't think they are very interesting. Their ideas work better than Diskord though, who, as lord_ghengis says, cannot seem to write good enough songs. I caught Obliteration live a few years back, which was a good but not great gig.

For some reason, I never got into Cadaver. I know Hallucinating Anxiety is a respected release, but they seem kinda simple too me, and I never did like their kind of vocals.

How has nobody mentioned Blood Red Throne yet?

^ The OP mentioned them.

Really liking Execration, will check out Shaarimoth later too.

Those are all three bands I've heard if and like, but I had no idea they were Norwegian. Pretty sweet.

Ah, I see it, it was at the very bottom of the OP

For me the best album of the scene is Superior Massacre from Myrkskog.

Blood Red Throne 'Altered Genesis' is very close to

There was also Disguting:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnOEdedFbn8

Decent, nothing special...
For once, Denmark was better than Norway in a metal subgenre haha.

Fester is another great one. Winter of Sin especially other than that you pretty much covered most of the other greats.

E

Going to check out Shaarimoth and Execration, thanks to the thread here..they sound very promising.

I think every band that comes to mind has been mentioned already. I really love Obliteration's Necropsalms--in fact it's one of my favourite death metal albums these days and I feel like they might have a hard time topping it with their upcoming release, but I'm damn excited about it nonetheless. Haven't really felt this enthused about a new-ish death metal band in a while, even though there is plenty of decent stuff coming out nowadays.

Fester are a really good band; I like Winter of Sin a great deal even though the songwriting tricks become pretty obvious once you've listened to it for a while. The second album I have yet to really get into but it is an entirely different beast, and arguably not death metal at all.

The fuck.

Obliteration is by far the best death metal that has come out of Norway last years and their live performance is incredible. Seeing them again in a few weeks. Opinions, I guess.

Yeah I was surprised. Their newest album has a lot of seventies influence. I really like it.

Ah shit, Black Death Horizon is already out? Must get on that!

One band I don't understand is Blood Red Throne. I caught them opening for Grave and it was seriously boring. No atmosphere whatsoever and really plain, uneventful riffs. Their guitarist was wearing a Pantera shirt I think and while I wouldn't hold that against anybody it was oddly fitting because I wouldn't be surprised if they really started to sound like that in another couple of albums.

Dude that's EXACTLY what it was like when I saw them a couple years back. They had ZERO charisma, and that Pantera-shirted gutiarist (who also had a Dimebag guitar and doesn't look that much different from Dimebag) was getting pissed at us for not headbanging, not making pits, or doing anything but standing like statues. The vocalist was pretty much standing in one spot, looking up at the ceiling and taking sips of his red-cup beer. Just belted his lines and then headbanged - no frontman skills at all. Bassist was doing his own thing, the other guitarist was trying to get something going, and the drumming was stock. Nothing about that performance was good. Musically, they're pretty much the same - second-rate death metal.

BTW, Enslaved came on right after them and DESTROYED, proving that none of us gave a shit about BRT.

Nah I was talking about Nekropsalms in reference to the drumming

hahaha...yeah. I've been to enough shows and have seen really good bands get minimal reaction for whatever reason, and it's always a bit sad, but if a band is just dull and doesn't offer an exciting experience, they can hardly blame the audience for not being enthused. I know BRT have their fans but there's a reason everyone in the club completely lost their shit during Grave's performance.

I'm a bit surprised that no one has mentioned Algol yet, but I guess that they're pretty obscure. Their sole full-length was put out on the same label as Molested's stuff, and like Molested, they have a very original sound that can't really be compared to any other bands active at the time. Only a couple of their songs are on YouTube, but both of them give you a pretty good idea of what Algol were about. Very quirky off-the-beaten-bath semi-bouncy death metal, with plenty of Celtic Frost influence in the mid-paced sections.

Two of the album's most memorable are Autumn Void's little divergence into melancholy melodic death metal and the breakdown section of opener I'm the King, where a mid-paced black thrash riff slowly morphs into something like a death metal version of a longboat sea shanty. There's a little bit of humor to their sound as well, which is pretty out of the ordinary for that era of metal in Norway.
It would be cool if someone reissued this and gave it the audience that it deserves.

Haven't heard of Algol before I believe, but that sounds very promising. Nightgaunt did a review of it as well that has got me intrigued for sure.

I was pretty damn bored by the one BRT album I've heard, but I haven't listened to it in ages so I don't remember what it was like.

@ OP; Thanks for the suggestions, good that someone manages to cover some other interesting bands in this scene that seems to be overshadowed hugely by it's big black metal brother....

another cool Norwegian band that hasn't been mentioned yet; Unspoken, cool band, very (us) osdm sounding...

That Algol album is indeed a neat little gem. Highly recommended.

Obliteration totally rule. Listen to this behemoth and tell me they aren't leading the pack in Norwegian death metal:



Shaarimoth are cool too. Like a more brutal, darker, death-ier version of Melechesh, kinda.

Regarding Cadaver, I prefer In Pains to Halucinating Anxiety myself. It's a weird album and not always featuring the best riffs, but it's unusual production and voivodish touches make it work pretty damn well for me.

Speaking of that though, has anybody else noticed that there are a surprising number of bands from Norway that take a heavy Voivod influence? I only observe this because it's something I want a lot more of, Voivod being pretty much the best thing to happen to music, and it's not something I hear very often in bands. however, Virus, Ved Buens Ende, Aura Noir, later Mayhem, Diskord, Cadaver, some latterday Enslaved (especially Isa I think)...all those bands seem to owe Voivod a huge debt in their sound. someone mentioned that up there with Execration as well and that's a good part of the reason I'm really looking forward to hearing them now.

The second Exercration is cooler than the first for sure. The first is alright but seems sort of unsure of what to do with itself, with abrupt shifts in riffing that feel like they're floundering more than intentionally jarring. The second one's got a much more unified atmosphere and more focused songwriting, despite being a much longer album.

I tried listening to that Execration posted earlier in the thread and I found it to be extremely mediocre; I turned it off after about thirty seconds. Couldn't take it.

I'm just realizing the first execration link is actually another link to the Molested song. Maybe you should give something else on the album a listen, a lot of the stuff varies on that album.

^ Yeah there is a mistake on one of the links that points to a Molested song instead.

Yeah, Diskord, Execration, and Diskord are the unholy trinity of Norwegian death metal. All pretty awesome, and unique. And like CF said, the first link under Execration is actually Molested. This is Left in Scorn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6OxbVlVQwU Their first album is good shit too, here's a cut from it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lKJr_wwKk8.

122 Stab Wounds was pretty cool. Must pull "deity of perversion" off the shelf and have a listen one of these days.

In Pains is a lot more progressive, has that rare clinical-tech-metal sound that only a handful of other albums like Mental Vortex and Spheres really have. One of my favorite OSDM albums, although I don't care for their first one.

Cadaver and Darkthrone are the greatest from that country for me. In Pains and Soulside Journey are both excellent.

Shaarimoth and Obliteration are both awesome.

I will also add Criterion. Their album "The Dominant" is some good U.S. styled brutal death metal, with some killer solos.

Also, while not strictly death metal, I will still mention She Said Destroy. They're really fucking hard to categorize.

^That was really great.

Did you mean She Said Destroy? If so, I agree. Most people avoid them due to the band name and logo.

Not death metal, but could be categorized as death n' roll, anyway The Cumshots are always worth a mention. The band pretty much ruined every chance of ever getting anywhere by choosing such a unique name. Anyway here are a couple of songs from their newest albums for anyone wanting to check them out.