Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Imagine coming across a band which whilst heavily indebted to the heavier side of Metal sounds as flattering and captivating as a finely tuned orchestra in mid stride; that to find the exterior of the music is as auspicious as the as the compliment inside, can only mean that OMRÅDE have released themselves from their sense of quiet and downtime of two years and come back fighting with the tremendous album Nåde.
To shed the light on the ultra-modern, to place yourself in the sphere of the forward thinking in the 21st Century, that is to open up the possibilities of existence, the so called Age of Aquarius may have been late arriving and is perhaps more over dressed that one might have thought at the start of the Summer of Love, yet somehow she has arrived in all her splendour, the only problem being is that world, far from being a place of love and respect has found itself as dystopian as they could have imagined all those years ago.
It is the openness, perhaps unusually for the genre, that strikes a chord with the listener, the sensuality of the music far outweighing what could be expected, what might be found in the realms of music today and yet it is there, humble, loud and storming but nevertheless humble and spirited, the kind of music that defies the logic of putting music into a box and expecting it to stay there perfectly still till it stops breathing. Nåde is an album that is alive, that is comfortable in its skin to breathe whatever air it likes, it will still agitate the box it has been put in and break out eventually.
With tracks such as Hänelle, The Same For The Worst, the excellent Styrking Leið and XII all contributing to the feeling of artistic allusion and growing depth, this is in essence the whole point of being illuminating, of offering a sense of modern thought to a world ready to make a u-turn and head back into a more primitive setting; such about face moments should be avoided, the only thing to do in such a scenario is to face down the way you are going with Nåde and strike hard at the beast who suggests that to be avant-garde is an illusion too far.
OMRÅDE’s Nåde is released on May 26th.
Ian D. Hall