Vederkast – Northern Gothic

By Alex on January 26, 2016

Balancing a clean hard rock sound with a prog rock edge, Tromso, Norway’s Vederkast is a rising force within the ever-growing European scene. With their recently released debut album, Northern Gothic, the four-piece’s intricate flair is sure to turn some heads with the latest drop.

Opening with an up-tempo, yet progressive build up, Northern Gothic begins with powerful “Skirmish” leading into the dark and nothing less powerful “The View.” While the growing escalation sounds fantastic, it immediately gives the impression that the band will launch into a much harder breakdown than what actually comes. For a moment, it throws you a bit off balance, but as the record continues to develop we can find that band has simply taken this heavy sound and manipulated it to fit their own unique twist.

Following and adding in a crisp gritty edge is is “Malison,” but holding it down in the number four spot is possibly the highlight of the release, “My Burden.” Complete with a cool (like in cold) prelude and Paul-Rene Aronsen’s strong vocal performance, the track highlights the band’s musicianship as well as their ability to encapture and invoke raw emotion.

The band continues in a steady direction with tunes that are balanced between stoner rock grooves and mid-tempo progressive rock segments.

All in all, Northern Gothic is more than solid album. It’s unique in its own way in that it just leaves you waiting for more. This is definitely not the last I want to hear from Vederkast because this release showed me that they’ve got loads of potential.

Tracklist:

1. Skirmish 05:36
2. The View 04:49
3. Malison 04:14
4. My Burden 07:06
5. Leave Them Behind 04:28
6. Into The Unknown 04:29
7. Forget Me Not 05:37
8. Meliora 05:25
9. Remain 08:44

Line-up:

* Paul-Rene Aronsen – vocals & bass
* Finn Fodstad – guitar & backing vocals
* Sindre Bakland – guitar
* Magnus Tornensis – drums & percussion

Links:

https://vederkast.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/vederkast

https://twitter.com/vederkast

http://www.vederkast.com/