LOGN: adjective 1. without rough motion; still or nearly still: a calm sea. 2. not windy or stormy: a calm day. 3. free from excitement or passion; tranquil: a calm face; a calm manner.
From Reykjavík, Iceland, arrives one of the most exciting new bands that i had the pleasure to discover thru one of my incursions on Bandcamp, Logn. Formed by a couple of young enthusiastic friends who just wanted to play heavy music bringing, each one, to the band their own musical influences, whether it was grindcore, crust or death metal, a storm was forming on the horizon. Unlike many other bands, Logn had that DIY attitude since the beginning, if they aren’t booked for a show, then they will create their own. And so they started giving gigs in their hometown, where soon they would start to draw attention to themselves. So after a split with the local band Manslaughter and a Demo entiled “Haust”, the band sees finally their first full length out, “Í fráhvarfi ljóss, myrkrið lifnar við“. With the help of good ol’ Google Translator, the album title should mean something like “with the absence of light, darkness comes alive”.
The album opens with the track “Klofnun sakleysis“, half intro/half song, a heavy, dirty and caustic riff is about to crack the floor beneath our feet. The drum is just relentless, almost sounding like something truly primeval and the voice is so harsh that it could open cracks on the thickest wall. The attack continues over and over with a brutal mix of blastbeats tangled around some heavy crust riffs while we are systematically punched in the stomach over and over..
Suddenly the dark clouds open, and there’s room to breathe, some peace arrives it the track “Í fráhvarfi ljóss” a much slower, dragged song, so it seems.. but just when we’re gasping for some air, the sky closes in again and the storm rages on.. thats one thing i admire about this band, the ability to turn what seems a slow, sludgy song into furious grind blasts in a very well executed way. Not technical but almost in a very raw way, honest.. with guts and passion. “Salt í sárin” is a disturbing instrumental that with the help of the cries heard beneath, makes us imagine some twisted set. From there on we are hit with short shards of dirty grind violent songs.
The end arrives with “Illspá II“, what starts full of rage soon becomes melancholic, like a wounded and tired beast that refuses to die but just won’t resist the lethal wounds anymore.. In Icelandic, the word logn is used in reference to a calm weather – peace – lull. The calm veiled a looming threat. The storm fades away, for now. You can tell it took a lot of work and true passion to bring this to the light (or darkness?) of day. So support them by buying this awesome album here. Super cheap price for a damn good album or if you would like a physical copy, contact these nice fellows at their Facebook page. You can hear their other releases on Logn’s Bandcamp and while you’re there you can download “Haust” Demo as well. For a young band on the scene they surely demonstrate a lot of maturity on what they deliver. There’s some really good stuff coming out from northern Europe lately and Logn are no exception. If you like raging, brutal, dark and primeval hardcore, then don’t sleep on this. Recommended!
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