From: Against Magazine
Published: March 17, 2015
Hailing from Canada, the doomsters Norilsk have just released the debut album “The Idea Of North” via Hypnotic Dirge Records. Promoted as a doom band, the record’s initial moments show a sludge side due to the guitars’ fat distortion that slowly opens the hostilities. Soon, the presented guitar riffs express a good variety and, without wishing to go on a constant labeling, we can even find some stoner metal influences.
Doom metal is known by its slowness, and “Planèt Heurt” presents an ultra-slow composition with perceptible bass lines superimposing the density of the guitars that are heavy like hammers. The bass guitar ends to be an important presence in the songs’ body and can be heard with some preponderancy during the album. Nevertheless, this track’s velocity increases a bit and there’s space to include a guitar solo that’s both melodic and dissonant at times. Having in count this last point, Norilsk have the creative strength to alternate their heavy and dark sound with this kind of wider and melodic passages, like in “La Liberté aux Ailes Brisées”.
After an environment of condemnation that’s majorly deprived of melody – excepting the cases I’ve referred –, the title-track (that’s in the end of the album) delivers that nostalgic and repentance vein that comes to surface through bands that play the melodic side of doom metal. Even so, the band doesn’t completely leave its obscurer side that’s brought to us by a body of strong guitar chords that atmospherically flow in the air.
Finally, the death metal approach is offered by the decrepit and deep growls. Still, there are some incursions comprised by clean vocals reminding somehow of the German scene. The using of the French language is also something fascinating giving to the album a ravishing and, let’s say, morbid feeling.
Reviewed by: Diogo Ferreira
Rating: 7/10