Norwegian Metal

Gloombound – Dreaming Delusion [Things You Might Have Missed 2025]

Gloombound – Dreaming Delusion [Things You Might Have Missed 2025]

By Killjoy on December 6, 2025 in Things You Might Have Missed 2025, Death Doom, Funeral Doom, 34 comments

“Funeral doom metal is a subgenre that, when executed properly, is fertile ground for stimulating the listener’s imagination. Perhaps this is because the glacial pace offers ample room for the mind to wander. Perhaps it’s because the music focuses more on deliberate mood than mindblowing technicality. With the right album artwork to gaze at, the experience is particularly immersive. While the music that Gloombound plays may be sonically closer to death-doom, it is composed with the same painstaking attention to detail as the best funeral doom.” Doom with room to wander.

Suncraft – Welcome to the Coven Review

Suncraft – Welcome to the Coven Review

By Spicie Forrest on November 27, 2025 in Reviews, Black Metal, Stoner Rock, 52 comments

“I first became acquainted with stoner rock while attending college and skiing in Salt Lake City. Whether carving the corduroy or taking face shots of bottomless pow, the raucous groove of the style made for a great soundtrack. I’ve largely moved on to heavier and less accessible pastures, but once in a while, something brings me back. This time, it was Suncraft, a five-piece formed in Oslo, Norway in 2017; I couldn’t let a genre tag like “stoner/black/pop” pass by unyoinked. We missed their 2021 debut, Flat Earth Rider, but I’m here to give their sophomore effort, Welcome to the Coven, the proper AMG treatment.” Turkey in the oven, surrounded by the coven.

Monograf – Occultation Review

Monograf – Occultation Review

By Creeping Ivy on November 13, 2025 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Drone, Folk, Progressive Metal, 8 comments

“In the world of academia, the ‘monograph’ reigns supreme. A book-length study of a single subject, a monograph should synthesize essay-length analyses into one argument that contributes something new to the scholar’s field. To analogize the world of music to academia: the monograph stands in for the album, demonstrating an artist’s ability to cohere individual songs into one holistic listen. Monograf, a Norwegian post-rock collective, published its first monograph in 2019. Nadir made a novel contribution to post-rock by adding Norwegian folk music to soundscapes reminiscent of Godspeed You! Black Emperor.” Book smart vs. garage smart.

Gazpacho – Magic 8 Ball Review

Gazpacho – Magic 8 Ball Review

By GardensTale on November 1, 2025 in Reviews, Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock, 29 comments

“Norway may always be most well known for its black metal history, but I’ve come to love the country’s progressive music more than anything else, with its penchant for the dramatic and theatrical yet heartfelt. Gazpacho is at the vanguard of this scene, their 2014 Demon a modern classic and one of the few albums nearly everyone at AMG seems to agree is a masterpiece. Demon was the start of a multi-album storyline about a being that lives in our collective subconscious and pushes us toward our worst impulses, culminating in the excellent Fireworker in 2020. Magic 8 Ball is the first album since, and the first in a few decades to not be a concept album, though there is a loose theme of fate or destiny.” Cold soup or hot sauce?

Gjendød – Svekkelse Review

Gjendød – Svekkelse Review

By Grin Reaper on October 11, 2025 in Reviews, Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal, 36 comments

“In a genre defined by trem-picking, unbridled shrieks, and lo-fi, treble-heavy production, Gjendød challenges a paradigm long synonymous with black metal—no bass, no problem. Though unabashedly black metal, Gjendød offers an alternative to typical second-wave stylings while still being recognizably influenced by them. Svekkelse is Gjendød’s sixth LP since founding duo K and KK joined forces in 2015. After releasing I Utakt med Verden in 2022, the Trondheim, Norway twosome enlisted drummer TK and Gjendød signed with Osmose Productions.” Norwegian evolution.

Sundrowned – Higanbana Review

Sundrowned – Higanbana Review

By Killjoy on October 7, 2025 in Reviews, Post-Metal, Shoegaze, 18 comments

“2013 wasn’t that long ago, was it? Yet it seems that Deafheaven’s opus, Sunbather, didn’t need long to become enough of a genre classic to inspire countless groups in pursuit of a paradoxically harsh yet dreamy musical experience. It was more than likely the inspiration for the name Sundrowned, a relatively new post-black band from Haugesund, Norway. Their debut album, Become Ethereal, didn’t make much of an impression on El Cuervo in 2021 and now it’s my turn for some solar exposure in the form of Higanbana.” Drowned in the sunbath.

Green Carnation – A Dark Poem Part I: The Shores of Melancholia Review

Green Carnation – A Dark Poem Part I: The Shores of Melancholia Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on September 4, 2025 in Reviews, Progressive Metal, 41 comments

“Many fans considered Green Carnation’s 2020 release a return to form for the band, and A Dark Poem Part I: The Shores of Melancholia continues where its predecessor left off. But it also incorporates everything we’ve ever known of the band’s catalog. Returning to the days of Light of Day, Day of Darkness, the band sets out to tell us a new story. Instead of accomplishing it in a single, one-hour song, The Shores of Melancholia marks Part I of a three-part series. This is one hell of an undertaking, but I’m here for it.” Your guide to morbid gardening.

Feversea – Man Under Erasure Review

Feversea – Man Under Erasure Review

By Thus Spoke on May 21, 2025 in Reviews, Electronic Metal, Post-Metal, Sludge Metal, 22 comments

“Feversea is a perfect name for a post-metal band. It manages to evoke the genre’s typical moodiness and atmosphere, which, like the sea, can range from tranquil mystique to rage and channeled either through fretful drama or a kind of layered intensity that could faithfully be said to resemble a fever dream. But there’s more to Oslo’s Feversea than their name having a pleasing ring. Their debut Man Under Erasure carries the burden of making an impact in the veritable ocean of groups taking their cue from stalwarts like Cult of Luna and Russian Circles.” The old man and the Feversea.