DUREFORSOG

The album is quite eclectic and the mood in the songs vary a lot. Examples are the energetic opener "Traffix", the psychadelic tinged atmosphere of "A Racetrack" or the silly sounding "Nothing At All". A common feature is that all compositions are of high quality though.

The musicianship is excellent. Düreforsög are great musicians and their interplay is strong.

The production is professional and well sounding.

Engine Machine is not my favorite album from Düreforsög, that honour would go to "Knee" but it is a good album well deserving 3 stars.

The music on "Exploring Beauty" is influenced by alternative rock, post punk and there´s actually only a slight avant garde edge left. The only song with an aggressive attitude that reminds me a bit of the music style on "Knee" is "Rubber Man" where Boriz Schiøler semi-growls. Boriz mostly sings in his normal voice range on "Exploring Beauty". The rest of the songs have an alternative rock/ post punk vibe. The quality of the songs is very high though and at no time during the playing time do I find the music trivial. On the other hand it doesn´t excite me in the same way as the crazy music on "Knee" either. It´s worth noting that Düreforsög are great fans of The Residents and also play a cover of "Living in Vain". It sounds intriguing but I don´t know the original. The Mike Patton faschination that was very obvious on "Knee" is for the most part not a part of the music anymore.

The musicianship is good and at times even excellent. But it´s seldom that Düreforsög really excites me with fast or unexpected sections anymore.

It´s noteworthy that Peter Schneidermann aka Peter Peter (Sods, Sort Sol, Bleeder) is credited as co-producer on the album. Düreforsög is credited for the production themselves. The sound quality is strong and professional.

"Exploring Beauty" isn´t what I had expected after the excellent and strange debut album but it´s a good alternative rock album with avant garde moments and it deserves a 3 star rating.

The music is not for faint hearted souls as it is a mix of brutal, heavy and mostly mid to slow paced death metal parts ( those parts sometimes remind me of the breakdowns practised by a band like Dying Fetus) and avant garde rock parts with lots of fast percussion playing. The vocals from Boriz Schiøler are very varied and alternates between mouse-like shrieking singing to deep brutal death metal growling. Boriz Schiøler also uses his voice in a more ordinary way though. A very interesting vocalist. All five songs from the Demo Tape Replacing Hinges Or... (1995) are also present in newly recorded versions on Knee and two of those demo songs are actually favorites of mine on the album. Me, Myself & Ear is a great song with almost Snake ( Voivod) like vocals and it´s great to hear Düreforsög doing something different. There's Something Inside My Knee just needs to be given a special mention for the energy level and sheer aggression. What a great energetic song. Energetic is in fact one of the most fitting words that can be used to describe the music on Knee. From start to finnish Düreforsög never lets up. This is a relentless album so don´t look for breathers. The lyrics are weird and at times funny. Düreforsög is not the kind of band that takes themselves very seriously. That doesn´t mean that the general quality of the music suffers though.

The musicianship is outstanding. The guys in the band were no more than 19-20 years old when they recorded this album and just listen to what they are playing. They are extremely skilled musicians. Rune T who is credited for playing on Rubbish needs to be mentioned for his outstanding percussion skills. This guy could have played with Zappa that´s how good he is IMO. Unfortunately he would leave the band after this album.

The production is very good. Not excellent but very good. The vocals are a bit low sometimes when Boriz is not growling but it´s a minor flaw. It´s noteworthy that Peter Schneidermann aka Peter Peter (Sods, Sort Sol, Bleeder) is credited as producer on Knee.

Knee is a pretty original album allthough influences from every project Mike Patton has ever been involved in is apparent. I will mention Mr. Bungle and Tomahawk. The music on Knee is not as out there as the music practiced by Mr. Bungle though so if you like your avant garde rock/ metal with a somewhat easier approach Knee might be the answer. I know I have enjoyed myself greatly with this album and I´ve considered giving Knee a rating somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. I´ll make it a small 4 star rating though. It´s very rarely an album makes my body move in spastic movements ( that´s what it looks like when I dance) and for that they deserve that extra star.

( By the way. Notice that beautiful childish cover art. Just hilarious when you know that you can expect death metal growling and avant garde rock parts inside)

I remember this demo tape circulating when I went to high school in the mid nineties. Düreforsög were generally considered as a very interesting/hip thing by the most arty types on my high school, but the band didn´t suit my taste at the time (my interests were in death metal and later progressive metal in those years). I might have heard the demo at some party or other but quite frankly it´s a bit hard to remember much from those days (you figure it out LOL). So I don´t have the original tape, but while this review is being written Düreforsög have given visitors on their official website the opportunity to download the songs for free. I´ve downloaded and listened to the songs for a few weeks and I´m actually very impressed by what I´m hearing.

The music on the demo is eclectic in style and generally a bit weird but that´s to be expected by an avant garde rock/ metal band right. There is an emphasis on the rythm section that I really enjoy. There is both a drummer and a really skilled percussionist (I´m told that Rune T´s percussion kit consisted of all sorts of strange garbage). The bass playing is also very impressive. The guitar plays some pretty dissonant things while lead singer Boriz Schiøler shows his schizophrenic tendencies with both talking style singing (ala David Byrne, Les Claypool), weird high pitched screams and death metal growling.

The first four songs are all good examples of Düreforsög´s style while the last song "Henning?" is just a short outro. "There's Something Inside My Knee" is definitely my favorite here with its punk like vers and crazy percussion sections. Rune T´s is one crazy and skilled percussionist, that´s for sure. "Me, Myself & Ear" reminds me a bit of Primus, but Düreforsög´s generally have their own unique sound.

The musicianship is excellent. These guys were somewhere between the age of 16 and 19 when they recorded this demo and their skills are already highly evolved. Again I have to mention percussionist Rune T for his outstanding playing on the demo.

The production is raw demo quality, but still enjoyable.

The compositions are a bit imature which is excusable considering the band´s young age. I´m still greatly entertained by "Replacing Hinges Or..." though and I would recommend that you visit Düreforsög´s official website and download this demo if you think the above description of their music sounds interesting. A solid 3 star rating from me.