Review Summary: Superb hardcore from the northernmost county of Norway!
Music isn´t always supposed to trigger deep personal emotions within us or leave an impact on music in general. It´s not always supposed to have a meaningful message, be political right or do justice to it´s genre. Sometimes it´s just meant to be pure unprecedented fun, and that´s definitively the case for Ondt Blod´s phenomenal debut album.
Ondt Blod describes themselves as a five-piece hardcore outfit haling from northern Norway, who is keeping alive the Norwegian hardcore tradition, while at the same time being able to produce moments of melodic clarity. Their long awaited LP is named after the northernmost county of Norway, a county 12,9 % bigger than Denmark in total, with a population of only around 75 thousand people. That´s Norway for you, but let´s take a closer look at the actual album.
The album opener Svarte Daga ("Black Days") immediately introduce us to most of the magic formula that makes this album so great: tough riffing, catchy hooks and incomparable energy! The follow up ´Nye Lydspor´ ("New Soundtracks"), also the first single from the album, then advances with it´s melodic chorus and gives you the complete formula that makes Finnmark an extremely fun listening experience. Both Kompis Med Satan ("Friend Of Satan") and Tragedien Kommer ("Tragedy is Coming") more or less follows this exact same formula, even though the latter of them have a greater presence of influence from black metal.
Gjengtegn (Gang Signs) then opens with a synth sound that sounds like something taken from Commodore 64. This probably seems quite weird, but actually fits well as a playful intermediate before the album gets heavier and even better. Next out is Symbola ("Symbols"), and in my opinion this is without a doubt the best track on the whole album. The opening is probably the most black metal influenced part of Finnmark, but it quickly returns to the typical sound of Ondt Blod and gives us one of the absolutely boldest bridges ever. 9900 Sodoma ("9900 Sodom"), Betongtro ("Concrete Faith" - not sure about this translation) and Brent Jord ("Burnt Soil") keeps up the heavier feel of the album, but at the same time keeps feeding us with stunning melodic choruses.
The last song is also the title track of Finnmark, and it provides us with a perfect ending to one of the most impressive Norwegian releases ever. I started this review claiming that music isn´t always supposed to trigger deep personal emotion within us. The truth however, is that this outstanding album actually makes me extremely proud to be a Norwegian, and to me that is of course indeed a personal emotion. The exceptional mix between hardcore and black metal, combined with catchy energetic choruses, makes this a surprising contender for album of the year.
PS! This is my first review of any kind ever and English is not my main language. I mostly wrote it because I think Ondt Blod deserves it, and because I think other people deserves to discover and enjoy this great Norwegian hardcore band. Feedback is of course appreciated, but please be kind.
