Just in time for today’s Suicide Records Festival in Gothenburg, Sweden, we have teamed up with one of the bands featured on the line-up, blackened, dark post rock / post metal horde NOVARUPTA, to give you some inspirations from Scandinavian music scene and NOVARUPTA’s most memorable live shows they have experienced in the past. Check it out and GO HERE to see our previous lists and features from the Suicide Records Fest series!
Suicide Records will release NOVARUPTA‘s third album “Carrion Movements” early next year. The record will serve as a follow up to the monumental, epic offering from 220 called “Marine Snow”, a deep offering that takes you down to the darkest depths known to mankind. Structured as an epic amalgam of post-rock, sludge and metal of the highest class, nestling perfectly within the current climate and time of the year.
Blurring the lines between Band and Project, Collective and Art, Novarupta was created. The main constant in Novarupta is Alex Stjernfeldt. In his broken past he has played in bands like The Moth Gatherer and Mr. Death, which both have critical acclaim in the international press. He has also collaborated with Terra Tenebrosa on their album ”The Reverses”.
When he left The Moth Gatherer, Alex stood disillusioned while facing an uncertain and bleak future.
Fueled by depression and frustration and a need to explore a deeper and darker musical direction while also returning to the roots from which he came, the foundations of Novarupta was born.
Asked about some noteworthy local new music recommendations, Alex commented: “I think that the scandinavian music scene is at a really exciting place at the moment and there have been many great records released so far of 2021 and there are some great records coming.”
Here are some of his top albums of 2021:
LLNN – Unmaker
I don’t know what to label this as, so let’s put it like this: Heavy, Heavier, Unmaker!
Pagandom – Ashes
Classic, intense, no-school Thrash done right!
Knivad – Insidans Ärrvävnad
Emotional, in your face and varied D-beat!
Kite – Currents
Norwegian Sludge/Alternative with heart and feeling!
When it comes to NOVARUPTA’s best pick for live acts and top live performances, Alex says that it kind of depends on his mood, so his list is in constant flux.
Here are some of the best experiences he’s had live (please note that some of the videos document different performances from the same era):
Swans (Debaser, Stockholm, 2012)
The heaviest band on Earth on so many levels. And this was crushingly loud and intense!
Sunn O))) (Folkteatern, Gothenburg, 2015)
Dimlit stage at like 02:00 in the middle of the night they took the stage to perform an eerie and introverted set with a volume that made your knees shake.
Ulver (kägelbanan, Stockholm, 2018)
Probably the most emotional and beautiful concert I have ever been to. Perfectly executed and not a dry eye to be seen.
Neurosis (Pustervik, Gothenburg, 2017)
It was like watching a force of nature, mountains crumbled under the sheer weight of their performance.
“All of those shows have made a huge impact on me and are shows I carry with me always.” – he concludes. “Of course there have been many, many more splendid shows through the years but I had to stop somewhere on the list.”
