Kvelertak

From indie rock to hip hop, R&B to metal, pop and punk, here are the albums we loved most this year.

If the claims are true that rock is “the new jazz” (aka a genre that stopped evolving and became “classical music”), then we might have to blame ‘Is This It.’ It set the precedent that “saving rock” was synonymous with “sounding a lot like beloved old rock bands.”

Oslo, Norway’s Oya Festival happens August 9 – 13 and this year’s lineup includes M83, Massive Attack (will Tricky be there?), Foals, New Order, The Kils, PJ Harvey, Jame xx, Travis Scott, Mastadon, Savages, Julia Holter, Lush, Whitney, and loads more…

Can’t make it to Denmark for this long-running music fest? Watch it live here.

Kvelertak will release their third album Nattesferd this week via Roadrunner, and now the whole thing is streaming. It’s their first produced by the band themselves, following two produced by Converge’s Kurt Ballou, and while Ballou’s production worked perfectly with Kvelertak, the production on Nattesferd really gives the songs more room to breathe. They’re still […]

It’s admirable that this band has been crafting their own sound since day one and that it’s arguably better than ever on Nattesferd, but I don’t think about admiration when I’m watching Kvelertak live. This is a fun band…

Ahead of the release of their third album, Norway’s Kvelertak and fellow heavy rockers Torche and Wild Throne decimated NYC.

It begins with the kind of black metal attack they’ve used to open songs before (like “Trepan,” for example) and throws a Slayer-ish whammy bar lead over it, before turning into their usual driving punk/metal. But it goes from a good song to a great song about halfway through, when the band changes pace a bit and transitions into brighter, addictively catchy riffage that should have you dusting off the ol’ air guitar in no time.

The not-to-be-missed heavy tour of Kvelertak, Torche and Wild Throne kicks off in a couple weeks, and we’re giving away tickets to the Invisible Oranges-presented NYC show.