Norilsk - The Idea of North

“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. Unique to the CD version, the bonus ninth track “Coeur de Loup” (Heart of the Wolf), is an ironic doom rendering of a song originally composed by the Belgian pop artist Philippe Lafontaine.

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.

I - Japetus
II - Planète heurt
III - Throa
IV - La liberté aux ailes brisées
V - Nature morte
VI - Potsdam Glo
VII - La Grande Noirceur
VIII - The Idea of North
IX - Coeur de Loup (*exclusive to the CD)

Released: March 10, 2015
Release Type: Full-Length Album
Playing Time: 55:08
Genre: Sludge / Death-Doom Metal
Quantity: 500 Copies
CD type: Pro-CD
Packaging: 4 Panel Digipack with 12 page booklet

ALBUM REVIEWS

"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