Review from Cacophemisms Blog

March 27, 2015

From: Cacophemisms Blog

Published: March 25, 2015

Norilsk offer up an album of death/doom/metal that combines the cold and morose with the upbeat and melodic. The music creates an expansive and foreboding landscape that is broken up intermittently by atmospheric guitar lines that build tension and trudging rhythms that propel some fairly infectious doom riffs (often overlaid with tremolo picking). Morne and Paradise Lost influences are apparent. Being from Quebec, the band uses French lyrics, delivered through both death growls and whispers, which adds a point of interest. Although The Idea of North is produced more sharply than I normally go for, it is still compelling.

Reviewed by: lxp

Posted by Nick Skog. Posted In : English

Review from Metallifer Blog

March 27, 2015

From: Metallifer Blog

Published: March 25, 2015

Original Link

Norilsk est un groupe de doom metal composé de Nicolas Miquelon (bass, guitars, vocals, lyrics) et de Nick Richer (drums, percussions, backing vocals) originaire de la ville de Gatineau qui se trouve dans la province de Québec au Canada. Etant donné que le Québec est francophone, Norilsk a fait le choix de proposer ses textes pour la plupart en français. Ceci n’est pas une première car il y a une scène canadienne de black met...

Posted by Nick Skog. Posted In : French

Review from Alternativ Musik

March 20, 2015

From: Alternativ Musik

Published: March 19, 2015

Original Link

Norilsk ist kein Ort, an dem es angenehm ist zu leben: Nicht nur, dass er durch den Abbau von Nickel zu einem der zehn am meisten verschmutzen Orte der Welt ist, es ist auch einer der nördlichsten Orte in Sibirien und somit ein sehr kalter Ort. Letztendlich so aber auch ein passender Name für eine Doom Death Metal Band, die sich musikalisch in kalte Gefilde begibt und dabei musikalisch viele Assoziationen weckt: Abgründe tun sich ...

Posted by Nick Skog. Posted In : German

Review from Against Magazine

March 17, 2015

From: Against Magazine

Published: March 17, 2015

Original Link

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 me...

Posted by Nick Skog. Posted In : English

Review from Heavy Blog is Heavy

March 14, 2015

From: Heavy Blog is Heavy

Published: March 13, 2015

Original Link

You are trudging through the cold snow, blinding light beating onto your brow from the white crystalline expanse stretching out around you forever. There are small icicles hanging from your clothes. Every breath taken brings the agony of a cold so strong, so omnipresent, that it shreds your lungs. You sigh, a small cloud forming from your exhalation, and continue to walk. Whenever you take a step, you hear the muffled crunch of sn...

Posted by Nick Skog. Posted In : English

Review from Dead Rheteric

March 13, 2015

From: Dead Rheteric

Published: March 12, 2015

Original Link

One label with a real knack for finding top shelf doom and black metal is that of Hypnotic Dirge. Introduced to them last year with the excellent Epitimia, looking through their catalog has brought some intriguing finds. So when any new release is announced, it gets some attention. This time, the band in question is that of Canadian doomsters Norilsk, for whom The Idea of North is their first full length album.

The most interesting aspe...

Posted by Nick Skog. Posted In : English

Review from metal.de

March 13, 2015

From: Metal.de

Published: March 12, 2015

Original Link

Mit ihrem Debüt "The Idea Of North" präsentieren uns die kanadischen NORILSK ein düsteres Werk, das ganz im Zeichen des Death Doom steht. Dabei agiert die Band weitestgehend solide, auch wenn kein Song wirklich heraussticht oder besondere Akzente setzen kann. Ganz nach dem Motto "solide Hausmannskost" bekommt der geneigte Hörer zwar alles geboten, was er erwartet, aber eben auch nicht mehr. Hier mal eine Nuance MY DYING BRIDE, dort eine ...

Posted by Nick Skog. Posted In : German

Review from Ave Noctum Webzine

March 10, 2015

From: Ave Noctum Webzine

Published: March 10, 2015

Original Link

Most of the time when we get things from the Quebec region of Canada it is the areas own authentic take on black metal. This time however it’s doom and its death all in one slab. The band have even gone to partly distance themselves from their own environment by naming themselves after Siberia’s Northernmost city. One has to wonder if home is not quite cold enough for them and if they pop out through Quebec’s snow blizzards i...

Posted by Nick Skog. Posted In : English

Review from Doom-Metal.com

March 9, 2015

From: Doom-metal.com

Published: March 8, 2015

Original Link

Well, there's a thing. I had some engaging contact with Norilsk last year when reviewing the very promising 'Japetus' EP, which was recorded simultaneously with this debut full-length, and self-released in advance as both 'taster' and 'first chapter'. Now, 'The Idea Of North' has finally surfaced as a label release through Hypnotic Dirge Records, in the form of a quality and beautifully-illustrated digipack...and, browsing through the i...

Posted by Nick Skog. Posted In : English

Review from Crown of Viserys Webzine

February 26, 2015

From: Crown of Viserys Webzine

Published: February 24, 2015

Original Link

From the province of Quebec comes Norilsk with their second release, an album called The Idea of North. It takes almost an hour to journey through the album, but it does not feel as such. Time moves differently in the North that Norilsk speak about, a North that is full of freezing, heaving oceans, endless abysses, “fratricidal war”, and many horrors.

Blending traditional doom in the vein of the classics from Black Sabb...

Posted by Nick Skog. Posted In : English