Sort of the polar opposite of Norway’s most renowned extreme metal export (black metal, that is), Oslo outfit Monograf offer a very specific brand of folk-influenced post-metal doom and gloom on their second full-length, Occultation. This talented sextet—Erik Normann Sannes Aanonsen (vocals/guitars/nyckelharpa/synths), Sunniva Molvær Ihlhaug (fiddle), Hanna Sannes Aanonsen (bass), Erlend Markussen Kilane (drums), Martin Sivertsen Adams (electric guitar), Ingvill Trydal (synths)—utilize traditional Norwegian folk instruments to augment their heavy, fuzzed-out soundscapes. In five tracks they cover nearly 40 minutes, sprawling through a number of different moods and approaches, from crushing doom to acoustic folk touches, always effectively navigating the loud-quiet dynamics.
Occultation was produced and engineered by Erik Normann Sannes Aanonsen in Oslo, Norway, between 2021 and 2024. It was mixed by Rhys Marsh, and mastered by Jeff Mortimer at JM-Mastering. Drums, nyckelharpa and acoustic guitar were recorded by Mads Johansen. It’s set for release on CD, vinyl and digitally via Overhead Productions/Nordic Mission on November 14. Place your preorder here.
The band had this to say about its latest:
“Our second full-length album, Occultation, has been marinating in the darkness of our time, sucking up the self-destructive patterns and hypocrisy that dominates our society just to shove it back to us in the form of art. The sounds are developed in the embers of a metal childhood tendered by a love for Scandinavian folk music, film scores and metal bands that deliver outside the set genres. Occultation is dark, but it is also different. Expected the unexpected.”
