Norska - Norska | Review

The debut album of U.S. sludge metallers Norska went completely unnoticed by me when it was issued in September last year, and only recently I the opportunity to hear it when I received the album promo from their record label Brutal Panda. I’m just glad they did it, because I consider this a tremendous record.
One of the aspects that immediately grabbed my attention about Norska was the connection with Yob as they feature bassist Aaron Rieseberg in their ranks. Yet, although it’s easy to find parallels between the two bands, they never hold out for very long as Norska have a few twists of their own to save themselves from being viewed as merely an extension of Yob.
Opener "Amnesia” is way uglier and heavier than anything Yob has ever written, evoking the angular, oppressive and slow-motion crunch of acts like Zozobra and Rwake coupled with some caveman roars. While the sound is layered, complex and grievous, it is always pleasantly engaging. Following track “Nobody One Knows” delves into a sluggish tempo, displaying some repetitive and heavy riffs that create a hypnotic wall sound. The thirteen minutes epic “They Mostly Come at Night” is an impressive doom-sludge theme offering some gigantic riffs crawling at the pace of burning lava. Despite its length, the song never gets too dreary or lethargic in pacing as Norska throw in some bursting metallic riffs and engaging guitar harmonies to keep the waters from becoming too placid and saturating.
All in all, this is an imposing release that will surely appeal to all sludge and doom believers. 

Band info: www.facebook.com/norksarock
Label info: www.brutalpandarecords.com