First of all, I feel I should offer my apologies for the lateness of this review. I’ve had a lot going on lately. (Speaking of which, please check out this post.)

Norse’s “All is Mist and Fog” had been tempting me on Bandcamp for quite some time. When I initially discovered the band’s Bandcamp page, I was immediately intrigued. Surely this release had everything? A fantastic band name, a terrific title, haunting artwork, a promise of something Black Metal flavoured… I was going to love it, right? In fact, I was so confident of the fact that I was going to love it, that I popped it straight onto my Wish List without even giving it a listen.

But, alas, my Wish List is freakishly long. I think if I were to buy every single item on my Wish List I would be able to repair the economy in most countries. It would cripple my bank account, but the rest of the world would be fine. So, because I apparently want EVERYTHING, buying this Norse album got put temporarily on the backburner. Luckily, I have a rather lovely contact who signed the band to his label and so offered me the album for review. I immediately took him up on the offer… but then life got in the way and I’m only just getting around to reviewing the album now. Better late than never…

My first listen to “All is Mist and Fog” was somewhat surprising. In my (rather unique little) mind, I’d built it up to be something world changing. Without ever having listened to a single note of it, I’d decided that it was going to blow my mind and be one of my favourite albums of all time. As a result, my first listen was a little disappointing. It didn’t change the world. It didn’t change my life. I didn’t suddenly sprout wings and fly to the moon in search of a cheese that didn’t have any calories in, but still retained its flavour. It was just an album.

However, that was just my first listen. Upon further inspection, this album proved to be a thing of absolute wonder. While it still didn’t alter reality, it did help to escape it – if only for a short time. In fact, it’s bloody brilliant.

Norse are not what you would expect. For a start, they hail from Australia – not that that’s obvious from their music. Based on their music, they could well come from the moon (I’ll have to ask them about that cheese). A name like Norse conjures up stereotypical images of Vikings or, at very least, Black Metal created in caves. As much as I love both Vikings and Black Metal created in caves, Norse have created something equally as impressive. It’s Black Metal, it’s Death Metal, it’s extreme, it’s progressive and it’s obscure. The first hit may not have got me, but the listens beyond that have lured me in. I’m now very much caught in Norse’s sticky, and slightly odd, web.

Tracks like “Towards the Shining Sky” were, at first, difficult for me to listen to. Although I can appreciate the technical playing of music like this, I tend to usually go for atmosphere. On having listened to this album a few times, I was soon able to get drawn in. Norse have created an atmosphere. Once I was used to the interesting riffage, I was able to lose myself in the music. I was able to close my eyes and imagine my own little visual accompaniment for Norse’s soundscape.

“All is Mist and Fog” may not be life changing, but it is mind blowing. Give it a listen via the widget below and judge for yourself.

Oh, and “Plaguewhore” is genius. As is “Black Ocean”.

Rating: 88%

norsemetal.bandcamp.com

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