VENUE: Lemon TreeDATE: 23.05.2026ORGANIZER: Aberdeen Performing ArtsPHOTOGRAPHER: C. NepperPhotos copyrights belong to the photographer. No unauthorized usage allowed. Please contact photographer if you wish to reuse images in any context. How often does one come across a tribute band as good as this? The answer is “rarely”, and the highly talented constellation of musicians collectively…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://bjornriis.bandcamp.com/album/lifandi While many prog fans might associate the talented guitarist Bjørn Riis with the amazing outfit Airbag, the fact of the matter is that Riis has been quite prolific outside his main band these past few years and carved out an equally interesting solo career. The man has never denied where much…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://www.dimmu-borgir.com/ Norwegian legends Dimmu Borgir have returned with a new studio offering, and the good news is that it has been worth the eight-year wait. What immediately becomes obvious upon spinning the disc and digesting the whole of the splendid Grand Serpent Rising is how much thought and creative energy these chaps…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://bjrnberge.bandcamp.com/album/morphine Renowned Norwegian blues rocker Bjørn Berge released his latest record just a couple of weeks ago via the lovely and eclectic Apollon Records, and it is a gritty-sounding and emotionally charged yet charming affair that offers an interesting take on the blues. More than that though, it offers a highly creative…
The evocative and anxiety-fueled four-track EP titled We Created Music for the Films No One Saw by the now-defunct experimental post-rock/lo-fi ambient project Sagntid is out now and offers a bleak, introspective journey through lo-fi soundscapes inspired by the notion of being trapped within another person’s poisonous aura of being. In the words of J.N.,…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://hexad.bandcamp.com/album/surgical-cuts-in-the-cosmos Three years on from the near-flawless LP titled Delightful Sharp Edges comes a new output by the magnificent Norwegian doomsters Hex A.D., and that is cause for celebration if you are as much into the band’s potent mixture of prog rock, classic heavy metal, stoner rock, and old-school doom metal as…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://lonelycrowdn.bandcamp.com/album/not-on-my-watch-single-feat-wholy-martin Something along the lines of fourteen years have passed since the brilliant purveyors of melancholy art rock known as Lonely Crowd released their previous effort titled The-Not-So-Great-Britain, but judging by both the quality and longevity of By the Time You Read This and its eleven magnificent compositions, the wait has been…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://agusaband.bandcamp.com/album/panacea Captured for posterity back in September of 2024 in Malmö and sporting a magnificent line-up that is truly gelling and capable of delivering some wonderful surprises, the live LP titled Panacea by the Swedish vintage-sounding prog rock ensemble Agusa is a masterclass in real warmth, genuine excitement, and skill. The group’s…
PHOTOGRAPHER: Jonas TomterPhotos copyrights belong to the photographer. No unauthorized usage allowed. Please contact photographer if you wish to reuse images in any context One of the most wonderful (and wonderfully evocative) albums to have seen the light of day this year is the deeply moving and exquisitely crafted Letters by the Norwegian constellation named…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://35tapes.bandcamp.com/album/veil-on-life The experimental Norwegian prog rockers 35 Tapes have garnered a good and solid reputation on the back of their well-received offerings from these past few years, namely Lost & Found (2020), Home (2021), and Fabric of Time (2023). Their latest opus titled Veil on Life, which came out a couple of…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://takahashilynch.bandcamp.com/album/resonant-duality What a magnificent gem this uniquely composed and highly atmospheric record is! Leave it to the ever-eclectic and positively weird Gymnocal Industries to uncover and unearth something as gripping and trance-inducing as this. Resonant Duality by Takahashi & Lynch falls somewhere between electronica, ambient soundscapes, and classical-inspired music in which the…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/hey-ho-lets-go-the-st0ry-of-the-ramones?srsltid=AfmBOop-OBwnFd-WxDMgsGKZPCGxPIUdLtnY2SPVSRjLK4NUQf37u6R0 Few bands are as influential and important as the Ramones are in wider musical and cultural context, and their classic and much-loved song material remains as fresh-sounding and innovative now as it did when it first blared out of the speakers in 1976. Spreading from the New York underground scene like…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/kaasinmusic/?locale=nb_NO Norwegian hard rockers Kaasin, which is the brainchild of Come Taste the Band guitarist Jo Henning Kaasin, impressed yours truly quite a bit a few years ago when they released the melodically strong and impeccably crafted Fired Up. Said album was a superb mixture of eighties classic heavy metal and late…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://centurymedia.bandcamp.com/album/the-ghost-of-a-future-dead-24-bit-hd-audio The renowned and legendary Swedish constellation known as At the Gates surely need no introduction as they have been at the vanguard of melodic death metal for decades now and helped shape and pioneer the very genre. Admired and cherished by both fans and critics alike, their unique take on the…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://drakentheband.bandcamp.com/album/here-be-draken From the fertile Norwegian underground comes an excellent new outfit named Draken whose eleven-track recent offering charmingly titled Here Be Draken, which will be released via the ever-dependable Dark Essence Records, is guaranteed to melt brains and tear faces clean off. Consisting of members of such fabulous and musically forward-thinking constellations…
– VENUE: Kulturhuset i Bergen – DATE: 27.03.2026 – ORGANIZER: Kulturhuset i Bergen, Ottorpedo med Venner Photo by J. Nepper Last Friday night offered something vastly different and delightfully quirky to the usual concert fare in that none other than local legend Ottorpedo and his merry men of musical talent were set to perform at…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/beggarsbliss What a lovely little treat this self-titled effort by the Derby-based hard rockers Beggars Bliss is. Immediately accessible and full of meaty motifs and bluesy riffs, this disc is an effective slab of vintage rock with staying power and depth to it. The song arrangements often impress and the compositional skill…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://linktr.ee/drawnintodescent The Belgian black metal squadron Drawn Into Descent (whose harrowing musical resume is rather impressive in terms of quality, I might add) have returned and unleashed a punishing new opus entitled Onrust, which sees the outfit exploring even darker and more unnerving territory than previously. From the epic howl of suffering…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://linkin.bio/studfarmmafia/ Sweet mother of lord, this is some incredibly catchy and infectious stuff, and rarely has an EP struck these ears as being so uplifting and . . . well, entertaining, really. This is just what I needed today, but we should probably discuss its musical qualities (of which there are many)…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://norwegianmalum.bandcamp.com/album/from-the-voids Considering the many fabulous aspects and overall quality of the harrowing EP titled Towards Nothingness (2025) and the full-length assault In Nauseum (2023) by the Norwegian black metal entity known as Malum, it should come as no surprise that many of us have eagerly awaited and looked forward to the group’s…
