After releasing a series of experimental solo recordings under the
Noxagt name Norwegian guitarist Kjetil D. Brandsdal formed a trio with a stable lineup and established a transcontinental alliance with the art-noise connoisseurs of Load Records to release last year’s Turning It Down Since 2001. Brandsdal’s current lineup of Noxagt distinguishes itself by being an instrumental metal band that uses viola instead of guitar to wreak sonic havoc. Of course, they’re not the only ones to use this configuration. Myles of Destruction uses the guitar-less power trio format as well, but whereas they play more traditional speed metal, Noxagt leans closer to Melvins-like sludge. What both bands have in common, though, is that neither lets the absence of a six-string keep them from inspiring a one-man mosh-pit in my living room when I pop their CDs into my computer.
One thing that I noticed about Turning It Down was the incongruity between the packaging and the music contained therein. The titling of the album HAD to be an ironic exercise, for the music was consistently loud and abrasive, with only the album’s 32-minute running time keeping it from getting monotonous. The cover, a blacked-out image of a man sitting in a bubble bath, only hinted at the darkness and griminess of the music. Conversely, the title and artwork of Noxagt’s new album couldn’t be more appropriate for the music. The phrase The Iron Point brings to mind something hard, sharp, sturdy and potentially dangerous. The artwork consists of a picture of an oddly shaped mountain in the middle of a tumultuous ocean, placed against the backdrop of a dark winter sky. It’s beautiful to look at, but it’s not the kind of scenery you’d want to get lost in. Noxagt’s music reflects what I assume would be the harshness of a Norwegian winter, extracting a backward sort of beauty from frightening tumult.
This time around, the songs are more adventurous, dynamic, and extreme. Opener “Naked in France” begins with a bass guitar that’s out of tune with itself, let alone the other instruments, and caked in so much distortion that many of the notes are indistinguishable from one other. When Nils Erga’s viola comes in, it adopts a vibrato squeamish enough to make some listeners nauseous. Whereas on Turning It Down, Noxagt might launch into the obligatory crushing riff right at the beginning, this song takes two and a half minutes to climax, ending with a plucked viola solo that sounds almost exactly like a guitar running through a pentatonic scale. “Naked in France” underscores the band’s growth as musicians in the last year by itself, and the rest of the album fully delivers on the song’s promise.
On “Blood Thing,” the viola plays in a different time signature than the rhythm section until the song speeds up. At that point, the viola becomes a noise generator, producing the same screeching slides that Sonic Youth generated with guitars on “100%” (from Dirty, an album I still believe is underrated). On “Acasta Gneiss,” Brandsdal switches from bass to baritone guitar for a cleaner attack, something I wish he would do more often --- if there’s one criticism I can muster against The Iron Point, it’s that his playing is a bit TOO distorted and sludgy. “The Hebbex” produces tension by pitting a sweet, melodic viola riff with a grinding rhythm section, and the random interjections of blast beats and feedback into the song’s coda add an extra element of surprise. The appropriately named “A Blast from the Past” does away with the concept of melody altogether, with the force of the strumming and bowing driving the song more than the actual notes being played.
On The Iron Point, Noxagt are gracious enough to provide the listener with occasional breaks from the chaotic onslaught. “Kling No Klokka” is an arrangement of a traditional Norwegian song that, while mellow compared to the rest of the record, still manages to be ominous due to guest vocalist Hagbard Heien’s tremulous baritone. This brief respite only makes the blast beats of the next track, “Svartevatn,” sound even fiercer when they come in. The final song, “Regions of May,” is a slowly enveloping drone that sounds surprisingly like an early Pelt song, and ends with piano playing that, unlike anything else the band has done, can be described as “pretty” without any caveats. These moments, in which Noxagt deviate from their standard template to uncover the beauty hidden underneath the violence, keep The Iron Point from being little more than a continuation of their previous record. Instead, the album does what all sophomore releases should do: do enough of the tried and true not to alienate the band’s existing fans (right, Liars?), while refining and developing the sound enough to maintain their interest and attract newcomers.
---Sean Padilla
Artist Website: http://www.noxagt.com/
Label Website: http://www.loadrecords.com
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