With their seventh album ’The Gospel' scheduled for release on 26th February via Fysisk Format, Norwegian rock pioneers Årabrot have now announced a run of European dates. Årabrot mainman Kjetil Nernes comments:
'Årabrot on the road 2016 - in search of something to fill the void - is the culmination of everything the band have done so far and definitely introduces the strongest lineup to date. Beware!'
During their 12 years of existence, Årabrot has managed to upset and confuse people in every possible way. From the get go in Haugesund on the windy Norwegian westcoast, where it all started, they’ve been provoking people with controversial artwork and music ranging from sleazy punk rock to cerebral experimentalism.
Carrying all the hallmarks of a cult band and with hard core fans all over the world, Årabrot have blown up everything from the dirtiest squats to art galleries and huge festivals. On the side of their rock band setup, they've also done music for silent movies like Die Niebelungen and Doctor Caligari and provided live music for The Quietus-founder John Doran's spoken word tour.
On top of all of this they won a Norwegian grammy for their 2011 album Solar Anus.
The new album “The Gospel” is recorded partly at Steve Albini's Electrical Audio in Chicago and partly in the old church in the woods of Dalarna, Sweden where Nernes lives and runs his studio these days. Listen to title track ‘The Gospel’ which the band revealed towards the end of 2015.
This new album though could just as well never have happened. Just before going on a three week UK tour Årabrot main man Kjetil Nernes discovered an unsettling itch in his throat. After a quick visit to the doctor Nernes completed the tour with an alarming secret: Malignant cancer.
The album you have in front of you is a collection of the music and lyrics written while undergoing surgery treatment and recovery. In Nernes' own words:
'The theme of the Gospel is a vision of the lonely warrior on a summit looking out over a battle field, the smoke from the bomb craters, an all-encompassing silence. The war was against one self; against the ugliness, against the sickness. You sink to the bottom of the sea. All of a sudden you are back on the surface again, stupefied. And hungry! A wicked hunger for everything human life has to offer: Sex! War! Drugs! You breathe, but not like before. "The man who has been in hell never forget'
The Gospel marks the start of the new era in Årabrot's evolution that the recent EP's I Modi and You Bunch of Idiots has hinted at. This is Årabrot at its most confronting and unsettling yet still their most accessible work so far.
Årabrot has had a revolving crew of contributors the last 4 years. This time the band has been reinforced with among others, Ted Parsons (Killing Joke, Swans, Prong) on drums, Andrew Liles (Current 93/Nurse With Wound) and Stephen O’Malley (SunnO))/KTL) on guitar. Kvelertak singer Erlend Hjelvik also appears with norse guest vocals on "Ah Feel". As usual, the artwork is signed by Norwegian artist Johannes Høie.
Norwegian Grammy Award-winning Årabrot
Kjetil Nernes – vocals, EGCs, synths Milton von Krogh – guitars Magnus Nymo – drums Lasse Marhaug – noise Johannes Høie – art Karin Park – vocals, electric piano, synths
Additional musicians on ‘The Gospel’
Ted Parsons (Swans, Killing Joke, Jesu, Prong) Andrew Liles (Current 93/Nurse With Wound) Stephen O’malley (SunnO))/KTL) Erlend Hjevik (Singer, Kvelertak) Emil Nikolaisen (Serena Maneesh 4AD) Kristoffer Lo (Highasakite/Trondheim Jazz Orchestra)
ÅRABROT EUROPEAN TOUR DATES:
March 2016
4th Nalen, Stockholm, SE 5th Smedjan, Gothenburg, SE 8th Urban spree, Berlin, DE 9th Arena, Wien, AT 10th FreakOut, Bologna, IT 11th Traffic, Roma, IT 12th Lo-Fi, Milano, IT 13th L´ Usine, Geneve, CH 15th Magasin 4, Bruxelles, BE 16th dB´s, Utrecht, NL 17th Corsica Studios, London, UK 18th Lost @ B-Arts, Stoke-On-Trent, UK 19th Nice n Sleazy, Glasgow, UK 20th Chunk, Leeds, UK 22nd Instant Chavires, Paris, FR 23rd Accueil Froid Nuke, Amiens, FR 24th The Pit´s, Kortrijk, BE 26th Iparragirre, Gernika, ES 27th Ahotsgora, Gasteiz, ES 28th Antiguos Almacenes de la Mina, Udias, ES 29th Liceo Mutante, Pontevedra, ES 30th Lata de Zinc, Oviedo, ES 31st Orbeko Etxea - Llodio, Pais Vasco, ES
April 2016
1st Ocho y Medio, Alicante, ES 2nd La Residencia, Valencia, ES 3rd Velvet, Malaga, ES 5th Inciviczone, Barcelona, ES 6th Grnnd Zero, Lyon, FR 7th Gaswerk, Winterthur, CH 8th Hühnermanhattan Klub, Halle, DE
Årabrot will also appear at Temples Festival in Bristol on 4th June
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