Review: Område – 'Nåde'

OMRÅDE
'Nåde'
MY KINGDOM MUSIC

Two years after their debut album, post-industrial/post-rock duo Område return with their follow-up, 'Nåde'. Blending diverse and sometimes disparate genre styles including trip hop, ambient, metal, industrial, post-rock, and classical the duo's first outing, 'Edari' was an album full of surprises that confounded any pre-conceived notions. The only real connection between this new album and their first is the track list comprises of eight songs. The rest is an entirely individualistic whole that conforms only to it's own unique vision.

Every track here is hard to pin with so many elements at work, yet it remains quite accessible in it's structuring. It may suddenly veer off into a saxophone solo, or fade into ambient textures, but the experimental tilt of the band is focussed and sharp, everything seems more assured in its use this time round. The result is some incredibly ambitious yet endearingly catchy songs with the likes of 'Malum', 'XII', 'Styrking Leið', and, 'Baldar Jainko' leading the way. But each track here is a master-class of songwriting, channelling a wide scope of styles and influences into something engaging.

The production as well feels more focussed this time. While the debut was pretty good regarding it's mixing and mastering to keep everything from sounding swamped, this time there's an extra power behind things that gives the overall sound a cinematic quality.

Where the last album may have required a few listens to completely get your head round it, 'Nåde' grabs you right from the start. They know when to get loose and crazy and they know when to pull it back. The result is a strong and balanced album that shows off some incredibly ambitious song writing and inspired performances, but also a solid understanding of what makes a fundamentally strong album.

Even if the words “avant garde” fill you with dread, or the thought of metal guitars intertwining with jazz sax solos makes you uneasy, you'd probably still find something on 'Nåde' to get your teeth into. It's another strong outing from a band that should rightly have big things in their future.  

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Review: Område – 'Edari'

OMRÅDE
'Edari'
MY KINGDOM MUSIC

Sometimes an album can just take you by surprise, and the début album from avant garde metal duo Område does just that. The bands first outing in the form of 'Edari' sees the duo blend a huge array of elements such as trip hop, ambient, metal, industrial, post-rock, and classical, often within the same song to create rich tapestries of sound and mood that are simply cinematic in their scope. They obviously owe a debt to bands such as Dødheimsgard, and Ulver but are very much their own beast whose main inspiration taken has been to push boundaries and not be afraid to experiment.

The album has a pretty mournful and delicate atmosphere that caries through the eight tracks. It's emotional and often surreal as the songs evolve through ambient moments before bringing in trip hop drums and heavier guitar work, there's even room for some moody jazz saxophone.

The likes of 'Mótsögn', 'Åben Dør', and 'Sakm Parfyme' provide the album with its most atmospheric and ambient orientated moments. While the likes of 'Mann Forelder', 'Friendly Herpes' and 'Ottaa Sen' bring in the more metal and industrial flavours, with 'Luxurious Agony' and 'Satalite And Narrow' adding some surprisingly dance-friendly trip hop beats and enticing electronics to the mix.

This is an album with many faces that requires multiple listens in order to truly get to grips with and fully appreciate what is going one. In that respect it may be a bite much for a casual listener to idly enjoy. But if you go in ready to seriously get your ears round it, then it is a ver rewarding experience.

With so many factors all vying for attention it would be all to easy for the mix to sound to swamped or just falter in places. But it doesn't. Every sound, instrument and vocal is as clear as can be, and the final production work brings out the best in the pairs song writing without a doubt.

'Edari' is a very strong début that opens up a lot of doors for the duo to progress through. The many elements and textures in their pallet just begins scratch the surface of their potential. If they continue to push themselves like the have here on future recordings then they will no doubt be talked about in the same breath as Dødheimsgard, and Ulver. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long to see where they go from here. 

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