I’ll easily admit it: I am prone to hero worship. It is slightly embarrassing to be in this category in your mid-twenties, but it is an unwanted side effect of being passionately interested in the creation of music. So when I got thrown headfirst into an interview situation with Stephen O’Malley from Æthenor, I was [...]

After having received and listened to their black demo tape and later on their first “proper” release, the vinyl 7” EP Knarkskog (Swedish/Norwegian for «Dope Forest»), my expectations to Oslo based quartet Okkultokrati were in the skies. Listening to commercial radio all day in the car or at the office, Okkultokrati’s music has an almost [...]

Munn til Munn Metoden must be the most visible invisible band in Norway. To this day they have released just about no original material, but man have they released remixes! And not just any remixes, damn good ones. From Hiawata! to Harrys Gym, Safariari, Mexican Electrica Miami and the Swedes in Love Is A Burning [...]

Easter spells unholy metal festival in the nation’s capital. For the 10th year running the Inferno Festival acts as the counterweight for everything cozy and Christian. This year the stage will be stormed by greats such as Death Angel, Marduk and Nachtmystium , but the festival is also opening its door for alternative acts. Among [...]

The story of Masselys traces back a decade, to the instrumental band Salvatore, a scheme to destroy them, and a Turkish karaoke night. Over ten years the instrumental act released numerous studio albums, for which they have received both nominations and awards from the Spellemann jury. Tonight Masselys curates their first monthly gig night, Lampa [...]

Monzano released their second album By This Time Last Year Everything Will Seem Younger February 8th this year. I’m too lazy to research, but with their six live sets they were probably the band with most spots during by:Larm last month. I met up with Sjur Lyseid, Eivind Bøe, Magnus Rauan and Eivind Almhjell just [...]

After a bowl of sweet potato soup and a couple of misunderstandings as to where we were supposed to meet, CCTV’s Shaun Curtis and Jon Martens finally walked into Q Diner and Bar at around six pm for a little chat about paranoia, dancing, by:larm and this year’s great Norwegian hype. Let’s have a convoluted [...]

The first time I saw Altaar play, they were a duo consisting of noise master Sten Ove Toft and metal/hardcore man Andreas Tylden. That time, at Musikkfest Oslo 2009, I was met by a wall of sound, obstructing any indie band’s attempt to strum a ukulele within the Grünerløkka perimeter. When celebrating Toft’s birthday at [...]

You know how media always label a band a dream team if more than one band member played in another band before? Well then, what do you call a band consisting of members from 14 other bands, sporting more catchy tunes than the Star Wars theme and more noisy and massive than the Hulk himself? [...]

A pinch of this, a spoon of that. No, we’re not swapping recipes, we’re introducing a band who likes to mix it up. Take some Manu Chao, some disco, a bit of Ojos de Brujo, a sprinkle of pop tunes, add some Balkan/French accordion, and, yeah, a rapper. And the result is so much tastier [...]