Review by JD on April 11, 2012.

I love hearing what Prog Metal is up to. As a musician, I love hearing what others are coming up with at the moment but there are some bands that just confuse the shit out of me. Norwegian Prog Rockers Nordagust seem to fit into that category just fine, as even though I have played for many years in a myriad of different projects - this band confuses the living fuck out of me.

Nordagust (from a myth of the ‘Grieving Souls Spirit’) is a trio of stalwart members, accented by others who join them. It is best described as Folk mixed with Hard Rock mixed with the absurd. Using a variety of different instruments, including a hammer and an axe (for chopping, not a guitar) - the are out to do something different and original, but what they have done is still up in the air.

The ten songs that are on here are musically impressive, showing a band of musicians that are well versed and some great players, but the album lacks direction and in need of some depth for such Progressive yearnings. Giving that they are haunting and very artistic but that hurts rather than helps as the music tends to lose something as they go on with the massive artistic touches. In a nutshell, this band is the epitome of dull, as there was nothing here to grab on to as all the songs seem to be almost the same.

I think if they went full out heavier, and lose some of the peculiar sounds that surrounds the music (bird sounds, waterfalls and such) and be more metal they would make the music world take note, but this is just an artistic screw up at its finest. Nordagust has promise if they follow a heavier path, got more interesting and stoped the crap they were producing but without some massive amounts of change, it will just not go well for them.

The Grieving Souls Spirits need to grieve for this band for many years, until they make it right... they hate bad music too.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 5 (weird is not atmosphere, just weird)
Production: 8 (over production hurt the feel)
Originality: 5 (weirdness does not count here as such in this instance)
Overall: 6

Rating: 6.6 out of 10