A decade ago you’d be laughed at for telling everyone that Scandinavia’s hottest musical export would be hardcore music. Scoffed at. Derided. Ran outta town. Well, sorry, but that’s just how it is now. Norway’s Oberst are the latest in a long line of Scandignarly bands blending the traditional frosty sounds of their home nations with overdriven, anthemic post-hardcore – of sorts, at least. We’ve got a brand new and absolutely gorgeous new video to debut from them today, complete with a track that should translate well for fans of post, core, and prog genres alike. What are you waiting for? Check out “Goddess” over the jump.
I can’t put my finger on any one band that this reminds me of, so I’m going to have to do a big dump of tags to help myself get there. The weird, noodling guitar licks of Mastodon and the driving force of a Red Fang/Mutoid Man riff-mutant propels “The Goddess” into weirder and weirder territory as the song pushes on. The chorus has this hook that doesn’t quite take you where you wanna go, but it’s all the better for it. Sort of a Kvelertak sound, but that comparison is mainly due to the vocal style and the geography of the band. I dunno. Think Cave In but not. Almost what Blood Command are doing, but totally different. I dunno. It’s fucking brilliant though. The band waxed lyrical for us about the track and the video, which you will find below:
“The song Goddess deals with the idea of escaping reality by way of intoxication. It touches on the very human reaction that is trying to forget while the world is burning around you, and how hard it can be to open your eyes and face the music once you have gotten the taste of something more than the «real world». The music video is shot and directed by the amazing Lars Rolland Andersen.”
It’s a topic all too familiar for many, and the slightly unnerving hook in the chorus makes way more sense when you find out what the track is about. It gets under your skin, but not in an unpleasant manner. I love the band shots with the images and videos projected over the top of them. It’s not something we haven’t seen before, but again, it’s fucking brilliantly done. Anyone can throw together performance shots together with cuts of a story, but not many can make it read as well as Herr Andersen.
Oberst have recently signed to Indie Recordings (Cult of Luna, 1349, Enslaved etc) and have a full-length due spring of next year. Find them here and check out the rest of their devilishly candescent back catalogue. Onward, frostbitten, non-denominational soldiers!