Hailing from Oregon is a band called Norska which means "Norwegian" in Swedish and who's debut album is a fantastically Proggy Sludge/DOOM masterpiece. One that was on my 2011 best of year list.
As soon as I heard the first song on the album two bands immediately sprung to mind. YOB and Mastodon. YOB bassist Aaron Rieseberg, also playing bass for Norska, is not the only reason for the YOB feel though. They combine the angular riffs of Mastodon and the powerfully heavy drumming and guitar tone of YOB, while never feeling like a stale rehash of either. Varying between crushing DOOM passages and progressive Sludge noodling in the course of each song with great ease. Vocals vary also, with a good combination of yells and clean singing. The production is crisp. Allowing the listener to really hear what they are doing with the two guitars. The real triumph of the album is the 13:00 behemoth "They Mostly Come At Night". This is where the band really stretch their wings and lets the Progginess flow.
There are no bad tracks on this album. While each song is able to stand alone, it still feels like a cohesive album. If you enjoy Sludge with heavy riffs and dark atmospheres, this may be the album you are looking for.
[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]
Update: The album has replaced by a pre-order for the same album... With a single track available for streaming. So nothing to see here (except for the new album art), you may move along
