Haust are a kind of sludge inspired punk band from Notodden in Norway. I remember stumbling across their Ride the Relapse album a couple of years ago and describing them as “Andrew WK meets black metal” but I also remember someone replying to this description with “That sounds absolutely terrible”. Heathen! Anyway, here they are again with a follow up to their 2010 outing Powers of Horror with a curiously titled little offering called NO. Sounds peculiar and very punk rock but they are not the first band ever to name their album this. American alternative pop rockers They Might be Giants had an album called No! in 2002 as did brutal sludge doomers Old Man Gloom last year. It’s probably pretty impossible for you to imagine what it would sound like if you combined these two bands but to be honest it would not be far off Haust, a massive load of fun but pretty heavy and scary.
NO opens by smacking us around the chops with ‘Raw Material’ which is pretty umm… raw and picks up from where Powers of Horrors left off. It has exactly the same formula as their previous efforts; fast punk rock guitars with snarling vocals over the top. When I say he’s snarling, he’s really snarling… cartoon villain snarling. He over emphasizes his wicked twang and milks it for all it’s worth. They sound like a punk band fronted by Gollum at times but I’m not complaining, it’s all part of their charm.
The rest of the album continues along exactly the same vein, aggressive punk rock but with quirky presentation with crazy ranting evil singer (with the exception of ‘Night’ which is a piano led kind of intermission). This has been the blueprint of every album they have ever made and they are never going to change that. They are a punk rock band so why the hell should they? Fellow Scandinavian Rockers The Brainbombs did just this and they are one of the best bands ever. The only problem with this is if you are not a hardcore fan of the band there is absolutely no reason to own this album if you have any of the others. I don’t think this quite has the intensity of Ride the Relapse either. Having said that the track ‘Mantra’ is face ripper , it comes in at just under a minute you might not hear a more ferocious punk rock song this year.
Anyway, there is an exciting wave of non black metal bands coming out of Norway at the moment but still inspired by it. Kvelertak are destroying major festivals over the planet and have made an album which should make its way into many writers’ top 5 come the end of 2013. Sludge rockers Årabrot are also making quite a buzz here in the UK with their blistering albums and live shows too. Haust are not quite as exciting as either of these two bands but if you are after a nasty slice of punk rock pie, which can be hard to find in 2013, I would recommend you get this vicious little album.
