AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): OKULAR — “REGENERATE”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Jun 052024
 

Many death metal bands “look the part”, black-garbed and festooned with spikes, pentagrams, bullet-belts, and/or skulls, and others don’t. Norway’s Okular are on the “don’t” side of the line. In their recent promo photo there’s not a band shirt to be seen nor any other allusion to Satan, the Grim Reaper, or spilled guts, and there’s more khaki in their attire than black. They’ve also got a few more years in their faces, which aren’t contorted in evil grimaces, than whatever hot young things you were listening to yesterday.

Some metal bands also churn out music like there’s no tomorrow. On the other hand, if Okular are expecting the end of the world, they’re obviously not anxious about it: 11 years have passed since their last album.

But Okular‘s non-conformity goes beyond their approach to appearance and timetables. Most importantly, it’s represented by their music, which you’d already know if you happened upon either that last album 11 years ago or the one before that, and which you’re about to learn (or learn again) when you hear their new full-length Regenerate. For newcomers, let’s quickly say that it’s neither plain nor khaki-colored. It’s more like the cover art created by Tina Harsheim Giertsen: Continue reading »

UNDERDOGS IN THE UNDERGROUND: THE DOGS . . . WHO LET THEM OUT? (Part 2)

 Album Reviews, Free Shit  No Responses »
Apr 052013
 

(This is the second part of a feature by NCS contributor Austin Weber that we began yesterday (here). Today he reviews new releases by Okular (Norway) and Teramobil (Canada), and one older one from  Diascorium (UK).) 

It was me, I let the dogs out.

Here are a few more reviews and music not only from two groups not previously featured at NCS, but also one (Okular) whose debut album Probiotic was reviewed by Islander way back in the olden days of 2011.

Okular – SexForce

For those unfamiliar, Okular are a Melodic Death Metal band from Oslo, Norway who make elegant yet aggressive death metal with a blend of acoustic playing and folk-styled clean singing.  SexForce is a continuation and evolution of the technical progressive mold Okular created for themselves on their debut, Probiotic. This time around they have reached further, going as far as black metal on some tracks, most notably the opener “House Full of Colors”, which is a terrifying introduction that offers a riff-packed taste of what lays ahead. Another pissed-off-as-hell track follows in “No Separation”, which packs a feral punch similar to getting struck by lightning. Continue reading »

OKULAR: “PROBIOTIC”

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
Dec 232011
 

Okular don’t fuck around. When they contacted us asking if we would consider reviewing their debut album, Probiotic, I said yes and suggested they could just give me a download link rather than going to the expense of mailing a physical copy from Norway. They sent me the physical copy anyway. When it arrived, I understood why.

The jewel case includes a 20-page booklet. You’re looking at the front cover above, which by itself is strikingly cool. You open the booklet, and what unfolds are a series of two-page panels of equally eye-catching artwork, with green being the dominant chromatic tone throughout. The first two-page foldout includes band photos and detailed album credits. Each of the remaining two-page panels is devoted to a single song, with lyrics.

I read the lyrics and stared at the accompanying art before listening to a single song. The artwork for each song is symbolically connected to the lyrics, which are a kind of very personal poetry that chart a journey of self-realization and that provide a description of beauty and strength (the kind that matter, not the superficial), both within the self and outside the self in the world. When I use the word “poetry”, I don’t mean to suggest that the words are pretentious or “precious” — they aren’t. But the words are still deeply considered and deeply felt and eloquent.

The very personal nature of the lyrics, the consistency of thought among them from song to song, and the connection between the lyrics and the art are the result of the creative work of a dude named Andreas Aubert, who composed the music, wrote the lyrics, and was involved in developing the design and illustration concepts for the album booklet. And he also sings backing vocals on the songs. And he has an interesting personal blog you can find via this link.

Ah yes, the songs — the music. It’s time to write about that. I’m just taking this in the order of my own experience — I read the lyrics and looked carefully at the booklet first, and then I pressed play. And what I heard was nothing like what I expected. Continue reading »