Published: May 16, 2015

The demo 'Japetus' by Canada's Norilsk left me wanting to hear more. Now 'The Idea Of North' has been released, I can wholeheartedly tell it was worth the wait. The music this duo delivers, is hardly comparable to any other doom band. Basically this can be described as death/doom mixed with some sludge and a bit of post metal. Add the vocals in the French language and you have a pretty good picture of Norilsk. By the way, the lyr...

Published: May 16, 2015

Less than a year after the release of their debut EP, Japetus, Norilsk signed with Hypnotic Dirge and already delivered their first full-length album. Two of the three EP tracks were kept for this debut album, together with 7 new titles, so The Idea of North offers us 9 tracks in its 55 minutes of playing time, 9 tracks mixing slow, tormenting Doom rhythms almost touching Funeral Doom territories with some more energetic '90's type Doom De...

Published: May 3, 2015

Published: May 1, 2015

Published: April 30, 2015

Hailing from Quebec, this duo take their name from Siberia’s most desolate, northernmost city, and of course it’s home to a ….metal foundry. And while you’d expect doom considering the moniker and label, this isn’t the huge, lumbering, funeral doom, Evoken/Ahab sort of crawl the name and label imbue, as it’s much more varied.

These guys have more in common with blackened, sludge or stoner doom and more grooving death do...

Published: April 29, 2015

While there’s something to be said about a good riff, a good riff by itself with no follow through is something of a wasted opportunity. That’s what The Idea of North is. Solid riffs, good drumming, heavy vocals, just played for eternity. They’re the sonic equivalent of that attractive person who catches your eye, but open further inspection you realize they’re not all there.

This Quebecois death/doom duo’s debut lacks the...