Okular: Probiotic fra 2011

CD-en Probiotic av Okular. Genre: Heavy Metal. Utgitt 7. nov. 2011.

Kan sendes for kr. 38,- i porto. Ny CD, i plastinnpakningen. Regenerative Productions.

Progressiv death metal med presisjon fra vår egen hovedstad, Okular er et nytt og spennende bekjentskap. Albumet er gjennomført på en helhetlig måte, det virker i hvert fall som om ingenting er overlatt til tilfeldighetene. Det skjer mye underveis og dynamikken i musikken er veldig god. Selv om det er progressivt og dynamisk, klarer Okular å gjøre låtene tilgjengelige for lytteren. Dette er et bevis på at nordmenn også kan lage god death metal, og ikke kun black metal.

Anmeldt:

For any music form or style to survive, it must evolve and progress. If it stagnates, it dies. With a few honorable exceptions, this has been a problem with the death metal scene, and particularly that in Scandinavia for several years. It has been seen to stagnate with its leading lights content to rest on the laurels of the success that has elevated them to the positions they enjoy today and the young pretenders coming up below them thinking it sufficient just to survive as pale imitations of those whom they seek to emulate.

However, as if defrosted from one of those cold winters for which that part of the world is well renown, the scene has awoken like a sleeping giant and reinvented itself with the likes of Okular, well placed to move the art form onto its next level.

This is a highly impressive debut from this Norwegian trio (vocalist Andreas Aubert, guitarist Marius S. Pedersen, and drummer Bjørn Tore Erlandsen, with Kai Åsvik of Grindcrusher fulfilling bass duties in the studio) with ten tracks of powerful, progressive death metal that lie somewhere between the technicality of Opeth, the high art of Dimmu Borgir, and the sheer brutality of Bloodbath with elements of Mayhem, Darkthrone, and Emperor thrown in for good measure.

A special mention must be made for Pedersen’s guitar work, which is exceptional throughout with layers of light and dark, nice acoustic touches, and moments of sheer mind-numbing speed, all augmented by a powerhouse performance from Erlandsen and Aubert’s brutal vocals. A prime example of this is the brilliant ‘State Of Immediacy’, which is just awesome in its restrained power.

This is one probiotic; you don’t need your doctor to prescribe…cos we just have!

(This review originally appeared on www.uberrock.co.uk)