Spotify link: http://open.spotify.com/track/6IXlH5b8FXeJTkhyiwxLMR

Ungdomskulen (The Junior High) is a .. progressive indie rock (?) three piece from Bergen, Norway. Their debut album Cry Baby was a very decent album, and obviously the start of something good. For some reason I only got into them after seeing them live at the second time here in Bergen, right before they released their second album, Bisexual. The album is perhaps even better than Cry Baby, and should definately put them on the world music map.

The song I have selected is the most astonishing track: “I Dunno”. The song has a pretty massive groovy right from the start. Beautiful bass and gitar combinations and great use of cow bells, which is a Ungdomskulen trademark. Then there’s a break down, and a pretty funky slow part. When the song kicks in again, it’s amazing what they accomplish with just bass and guitar. Just a plain amazing track.

And the concludes this christmas calendar.

Merry Christmas!

Spotify link: http://open.spotify.com/track/0Xd6YqpdN4MIGS2tlqiHK2

Mew has, since I first discovered them at a concert in Roskilde in 2005 been a band I’ve always had a good eye to. I think that their first two releases were pretty decent, with many solid tracks. The first album was maybe a bit pop, and the second a bit darker. This year they released “No More Stories…” (I don’t bother writing the whole name), the first album since 2005. I think the album is quite the masterpiece, with lots of great tracks. I think they succeed in sounding interesting the first time you hear them, and later on your discover new parts, or still can’t figure out some rhythm section, which I found fascinating.

The track I’ve selected for today, is the first single “Introductin Palace Players”, which also was on the No More Stories EP. The track begin with a weird rhytm intro, not all that unlike the start of And The Glass Handed Kites, and then crashes into a more open riff. The drums then play a pretty progressive drum beat with interesting fills, before the vocal kicks in. The end is also quite unusual for a band with such broad audience. I hope that this album will get more people into more challenging music.

Spotify link: http://open.spotify.com/track/53lHOhfHoDAGEqUWoChdJF

Isis, this post-metal band from the states, released the follow up to In the Absence of Truth, Wavering Radiant this year. I have always experienced that I seem to like one track from their albums better than the rest. On both Panopticon and Oceanic, I’ve enjoyed the first track, but on wavering radiant, this changed. I think that last track, Threshold of Transformation is the best from this album.

It starts off with a quite brutal way, by Isis standards. The drums are pretty awesome, and they change from hard to soft a couple of times before the amazing part around 04:50, which kinda reopens the song, and I feel it’s quite a reminder of what’s to come when they cool it down around 05:30. Then there’s an amazing build up, the bass line around 07:00 is just plain amazing, for me the highlight of the track.

Spotify link: http://open.spotify.com/track/4nwwFLQqopxAL0g2L0Fg0B

Mastodon, the band known for complex, progressive music, crazy drumming (in fact, some claim that the drumming is doing the riffing, and the guitars are just trying to glue it all together) and very cool artwork, released their newest album “Crack the Skye” in 2009. This time they have gone a bit back to the basics, focusing on creating good, solid tracks instead of trying to push boundaries. They also had the privilege of having some great guest musicians join them, which they also have done earlier with Josh Homme and two of the guys from Mars Volta, and Scott Kelly from Neurosis on the album Blood Mountain, and Scott Kelly is also present on this album, on the track Crack the Skye.

The song has many similarities to Neurosis, especially the very powerful riff at about 01:04. I actually though to myself: “Hey, this part is a goddamn Neurosis ripoff”, before I even knew that Scott Kelly was a guest musician on the album. I guess it’s ok to steal some Neurosis riffs if you are doing the scheme with Neurosis and the music turns out as good as this.

Spotify link: http://open.spotify.com/track/3Mu70nOHEJpxWff0ZPm9MZ

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart is a fairly new Indie pop band from New York City. They have released two EPs and one album, and for some reason, I discovered their EP “Higher than the Stars”, first (it’s their latest release), and that’s also where I found the beautiful title track.

Solid bass lines, great use of keyboards, good vocals. This track has it all.

Spotify link: http://open.spotify.com/track/2vYznzc0S0KAADPw9cUnA5

To those unfamiliar to Nile, they are a technical death metal band with inspirations from the ancient Egypt. I remember discovering Nile before seeing them at the Hole-in-the-Sky Festival here in Bergen, and remember that their extreme expression, and the gig was about the most extreme thing I’ve ever seen, George Kollias sure as something. After the gig I really got into them, especially Annihilation of the Wicked and In Their Darkened Shrines were two of the records I’ve played a lot in my life. The follow up to AotW, Ithyphallic was maybe not all that great, and that’s why I had lowered my expectations a bit when they released Those Whom the Gods Detest this autumn. But ow boy, did they deliver.

While Ithyphallic was quite the nut to figure out, Those Whom the Gods Detest has gone a bit back to basics, it’s still as extreme as it gets, but they focus more on killer riffs, and repeats them a bit, which makes it easier to get into their songs. Fun fact: The drums are engineered by Erik Rutan, and they sound damn amazing. And George Kollias is still one of my favorite extrem metal drummers.

The song I’ve selected is Utterances of the Crawling Dead, a track containing those killer riffs, and the song actually is quite groovy, something which is tough to do at higher tempoes. But please check out the rest of the album as well, the opening track Kafir is .. amazing, 4th Arra of Dagon (check out the last third), Permitting … and more.

Spotify link: http://open.spotify.com/track/5ySqZzYOLIlXX9eEYX8qTX

Sworn is a Melodic Black Metal band from Bergen, Norway. They have existed for quite a few years and released their second album “Bastards and Conquerors” this year, after their brilliant debut album “The Alleviation” in 2007. The album is a very high quality follow up, The Alleviation had some weak spots in that some tracks where better than others, but on this album the general quality of the songs are higher. It was therefore harder to choose one favorite, but I’ve selected the great song Damnation Spawned, an eight minute epic with all that’s great about Sworn.

The song starts in “In Medias Res”, with a great melodic riff and blast beats. The next riff is just as great, very tender. In the middle of the track there’s the obligatory quiet part before the end, and a tender solid end part which last a few minutes.

They are playing at Rockefeller today (!), so if you are in Oslo, hurry up and attend.

Spotify link: http://open.spotify.com/track/1Y4noeja3TdFEPhLJEjONk

El Caco is a norwegian rock band from Lillestrøm, Norway. They are reknown for great live performances. They released the album “Heat” this year, I don’t think the album is that great, but the track Individuals is absolutely fantastic.

It kicks off with a groovy riff and steady bass lines, but the fun really starts at the pre-chorus, and the chorus itself is a powerful, mean beast. Enjoy!

Spotify link: http://open.spotify.com/track/7mtLOphXdBRHDwI5zeUq8P

Årabrot is a Norwegian noise-rock band from Haugesund. We (Sludgefudge) had the pleasure of opening for them when they played at Hulen, Bergen. It was the release concert for their new EP “I Rove”, and they delivered an awesome show. They also released their album “The Brother Seed” this year, and that’s where I found this awesome, but short track, The Minute/The Pendulum Swings To And Fro. It’s short and intense, but so nice. This guy really wants his minute back.

Spotify link: Not there. But check out their myspace site

Leadsledge is a Bergen based metal band with influences from bands like Machine Head, Skinlab, American Head Charge and Pantera, and they play brilliantly. They claim to focus on the groove instead of reinventing the wheel, and I think they succeed. The band was formed by Haakon Haagensen from Malachord and Clown, and Sjalg Otto Unnison from bands like Hellish Outcast, Betatt and Poze. They filled up the last spots with others members from poze (Kjartan, Loke and Ali), and later recruited the talented vocalist Daniel from In Confesso.

The song I’ve selected is a powerful song with a great groove, awesome drumming and a very cool bass driven part in the middle. The other tracks from the EP are actually just as good, so check them out if you’re into this kind of music. It’s quality, and fills the gap that was left when poze ended their journey.