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The Idea of North

by Norilsk

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Darknight
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Darknight The Idea of North sounds like the nightmare of everyone's death doom vision into hell. Kick back and feel the pressure of your ears being crushed. Absolutely fantastic album!! Favorite track: Throa.
baudelagon
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baudelagon Des riffs lourds, simples, j'ai envie de dire basiques, sans fioriture, mais pour un sens du rythme primitif incroyable sur la première moitié de l'album. On balance la tête sans pouvoir résister. Ensuite le son est plus lancinant, plus mou et il m'a fallu plus de temps pour apprécier cela à sa juste valeur. Bon il parait que c'est chanté en français mais moi je ne comprends rien si je n'ai pas les paroles sous les yeux...
bmurator
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bmurator Canadian Death / Doom. This has quite a few stoner influences as well. It is a great album especially considering it is a debut! Plus, things got even better for this band as the years went by! I also find the use of French or Québécois particularly fascinating! Recommended! Favorite track: The Idea of North.
Metallurgical Fire
Metallurgical Fire thumbnail
Metallurgical Fire This one’s a bit tough to pin down, but I thought I was hearing some Melvins, Helmet, Rollins Band in there at times, a 90s musical atmosphere. The album is a bit cleaner sounding than death or doom often sounds. It’s an interesting listen. There’s a fantastic guitar solo on Planete heurt, worth an album purchase on its own merits. Favorite track: Planète heurt.
Sonny92
Sonny92 thumbnail
Sonny92 As the album began I thought "Oh great, another generic death doom album **weary sigh**". But this is, in fact, an unexpected gem of a release. More focussed on the "doom" rather than the "death" aspect, this album features some very accomplished songwriting. The performances are decent and the throaty, growled vocals are effective. Overall, I felt the album engaged me far more than the usual death doom release. A very promising debut and a worthy addition to any Doom collection. Favorite track: La liberté aux ailes brisées.
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Released in a 4 panel digipack with a 12 page booklet
    Lyrics printed in both French and English

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Idea of North via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    edition of 500 
    Purchasable with gift card

      €9 EUR or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.
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  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 127 Hypnotic Dirge Records releases available on Bandcamp.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Wrath, Kaer Morhen, Sodden, sound graveyard bound [2023], about all the bad days in the world, Inside, At the Gates of Adversarial Darkness, Worldtorn: Anemoia, and 119 more. , and , .

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1.
Japetus 08:11
(en francais) Des vagues plus fortes que des monstres marins Plus grandes que des navires, plus larges que les côtes Ensemençant les abysses Crevant les cieux immenses Le rock pesant, assourdissant La terre noyée dans le tumulte Le règne… de Japet Plus puissant et plus vaste, Plus ancien, au plus profond de la vie Le règne… de Japet Le règne… de Japet Tout ce qui avait respiration, souffle de vie sur la terre sèche, mourut. Tous les êtres qui étaient à la surface disparurent. Depuis l’homme jusqu’au bétail, aux reptiles et aux oiseaux du ciel : ils furent exterminés. [Le Déluge – Genèse, 7, 21-23] Dépassé, emporté, étouffé, Les eaux troubles, la vague, Arraché, avalé, effacé, L’abysse béant, guettant Tomber, plonger, chuter Le gouffre qui s’ouvre dessous Infra Nos, Infra Nos Japetus un enfer immuable Engloutis ici-bas, Le sens à la mortalité Le règne… de Japet Le règne… de Japet (In english) Waves bigger than sea monsters Taller than ships, wider than shores Inoculating the abyss Puncturing the skies – towering Layers of rock weighing, deafening Land drowned in the tumult The reign of Japetus Powerful and gigantic, primeval To the very bottom of life itself The reign of Japetus The reign of Japetus And all flesh died that moved upon the earth. Every living thing that was upon the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the air; they were blotted out from the earth. [Genesis, 7, 21-23] Drown away, smothered Troubled waters, the wave Snatched, swallowed, erased The gaping abyss, watching Descending, plunging, falling The chasm opens underneath Infra Nos, Infra Nos Japetus a still inferno Swallowed down here Mortality taking shape The reign of Japetus The reign of Japetus
2.
Abandonné dans l’abîme Où s’est éteinte la lumière Où se sont échoués les sons Où on a crevé l’écho Ici dans la neige, nul ne se souvient Ici où personne, personne ne répond Suspendu par un souffle Invisible, le vide, autour Mon coeur glacé à jamais Bientôt déshumanisé Grand corps mort gisant gelé
3.
Throa 05:55
4.
5.
Nature Morte 04:07
6.
Potsdam Glo 06:18
7.
8.

about

Named after Siberia’s northernmost city, home of a famous heavy metal smelting complex, Norilsk is a doom-death band from Gatineau (Québec), Canada. After releasing an EP, Japetus, in July 2014, Norilsk now unveils their debut album - “The Idea of North” in a glorious digipack edition on Hypnotic Dirge Records.

“The Idea of North” is a doom-death album crafted for the winter season: it has slow and crushing riffs, death growls, and atmospheric arrangements. An evocation of an ominous presence over a vast wasteland, “The Idea of North” is a massive offering that triggers the imagination. Its music draws comparison with doom-death bands such as My Dying Bride, Morgion and Ablaze in Hatred, but it also has a few atmospheric sludge/post metal elements reminiscent of Isis and Morne.

Inspired by the multi-faceted Canadian experience of the North, and assembled into a cold yet dynamic sequence of eight individual songs, the album explores themes of darkness, isolation, identity, archaism and persistence—thus delivering a fresh perspective over the cliché Nordic imagery in metal in general.

“The Idea of North” was recorded at Studio En-Phase in Montreal by Jean-Philippe Latour (Paroxysm, Fuck the Facts, Talamyus), and mixed at Pebble Studios in Ottawa by Mike Bond (Dissentient, Endemise, Loviatar, Signs of Chaos), while the artwork was designed by professional artist Sam Ford, who also designed album artworks for Black Cobra, Witch Mountain and Monarch, among others.

Aside from the gorgeous two-panel cover and interior art pieces, the splendid digipak also contains all lyrics and translations (English and French), for worldwide fans of death-doom to enjoy the bitter taste of the Great White North.

The first 100 copies of the album sold comes with an 11cm x 7cm Norilsk sticker, and the first 40 copies of the album come with a full-color 43cm x 28cm Norilsk poster - a commissioned depiction of the doomed Franklin ship, which was lost at sea in 1845 searching for a Northwest passage to the pacific ocean and was finally discovered 169 years later in 2014 by a team of Canadian archaeologists.

Feedback:

"The album, as a whole, is a slow moving glacier, much like the Japetus EP that came before it, but it is much thicker, longer, and brutally unforgiving, not stopping its steady march from the Northern mountains to the Northern ocean, where it will continue as icebergs destined to down ships. It’s a ride that you can’t just hop onto and off of when you are ready. This is an album full of nuance and attention to detail, and should be played as such, preferably with headphones. Throw in a doomed cover of a Belgian pop song, and you’ve got yourself a damn near perfect listen. Beyond recommended, I will probably go through two copies of this album this year alone."
-Crown of Viserys

"And one of the great strengths of 'The Idea Of North' is that it never sounds like a collection of ideas in search of a home: quite the opposite, in fact. There's a completeness in the way it grabs initial attention with the rousing, sludgy stomp of the first half, then evolves into a more chilly and thoughtfully introspective atmospheric beast (in places, even reminiscent of Dolorian); like a snow-fanged apocalypse avalanching across the world, leaving the last survivors huddled in the frozen wastes of its wake. The band call it 'crafted for the winter season', but by the visceral and lonely conclusion of the title track it seems quite possible that winter will be eternal."
-Doom-Metal.com

"This hour-long ode to the Arctic is a monolithic jamfest, through and through. From beginning to end, The Idea of North is a fantastic example of what modern doom metal should sound like. Thick, slow as molasses, and greatly atmospheric, Norilsk’s debut has exactly what it takes to land this band a spot in any doom metal fan’s list of bands to look out for."
-Heavy Blog is Heavy

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credits

released March 10, 2015

Nicolas Miquelon - Music and Lyrics
Nick Richer - Drums and Backing vocals

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Hypnotic Dirge Records Amadora, Portugal

Hypnotic Dirge Records is an independent record label and webshop based in Saskatchewan, Canada and Lisbon, Portugal active since 2008. Our intention and raison d'être is to release quality expressive and eclectic art through aural manifestations.

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