Årabrot - You Bunch of Idiots
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It’s hard for us in the States to imagine an extreme metal or noise rock band being nominated for a Grammy award, but in Norway it’s happened to experimental group Årabrot, who won the Spelleman Award in 2012 in the metal category, despite being musical outsiders in their home country and everywhere else.
And they won for an album called Solar Anus, which just shows you how much more open-minded other countries are about whatever the line might be between brilliant subversion or abrasive offensiveness.
The band, which takes their name from a garbage dump near their hometown of Haugesund, straddle that line quite well, to the detriment of many people who want to listen and enjoy their music but just can’t. Well, here’s a chance to give that uneasy feeling another try. Årabrot just released the third in a trio of EPs, You Bunch of Idiots via Eolian Empire for the band’s first stateside release. This EP, streaming in its entirety below, is six tracks spanning just 19 minutes of hostile weirdness. The recording will be released in Europe as 12-inch vinyl via Fysisk Format.
The EP was recorded and mixed by Milton von Krogh at Djura Missionshus, Djura, Sweden, and Taakeheimen Lydrike, Oslo, Norway, with vocal overdubs recorded by Karin Park at Djura Missionshus, Djura, Sweden, after which the platter was mastered by Jason Ward at Chicago Mastering. The cover art was done by Norwegian artist Johannes Høie, who created the art for the other EPs and various band merch.
Whether you think Årabrot is a triumph of high art from the lowest places or just a noise-rock mistake, (I’m not taking a side because I still haven’t decided) there’s no doubt that their music is loud, heavy, disturbing, and also entertaining in a creepy insane genius sort of way. Take it for a spin and tell us what you think.
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You Bunch of Idiots is out on June 23 via Eolian Empire and Fysik Format. Follow Årabrot on Facebook, and check the following dates of their upcoming US tour.
Årabrot North American Summer Tour:
6/24/2015 O’brien’s Pub – Boston, MA
6/27/2015 Now That’s Class – Cleveland, OH
6/29/2015 The Burlington – Chicago, IL
6/30/2015 Fubar – St Louis, Missouri
7/01/2015 Jackpot Saloon – Lawrence, KS
7/02/2015 Hi Dive – Denver, CO
7/03/2015 Kilby Court – Salt Lake, City, UT
7/04/2015 The Shredder – Boise, ID
7/05/2015 The Highline – Seattle, WA
7/06/2015 The Hindenburg – Vancouver, BC
7/07/2015 Rotture – Portland, OR
7/08/2015 Starlight Lounge – Sacramento, CA w/ Dispirit, Lycus
7/09/2015 SF Eagle – San Francisco, CA
7/12/2015 Lowbrow Palace – El Paso, TX
7/14/2015 Holy Mountain – Austin, TX w/ Pinkish Black
7/15/2015 Siberia – New Orleans, LA w/ Pinkish Black
7/16/2015 The 529 – Atlanta, GA w/ Pinkish Black
7/17/2015 Local 506 – Chapel Hill, NC w/ Pinkish Black
7/18/2015 Strange Matter – Richmond, VA w/ Pinkish Black
7/19/2015 The Studio, Webster Hall – New York, NY w/ Pinkish Black
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