There's this pretty great interview in the most recent issue of Chunklet magazine which talks to Pen Rollings of Honor Roll, more recently of Loincloth fame. In the article, he talks about how all those European metal bands that burn churches down and totally front like they're hard are, in fact, pussies who try too hard. As a result, he and his band Loincloth released a lyric-less album with song titles like "Church Burnings." They did it as a joke but it was very effective. Where I'm going with this, in an admittedly round about way, is to say that the Norwegian group Noxagt is similar in this regard on their sophomore full-length, The Iron Point. While still maintaining the sheer heaviness of European metal, they don't fall victim to its own self parody.
As a result of being released on Load Records, the band will inevitably draw comparisons to their lablemates Lightning Bolt. This comparison has only slight merit in that both bands are noisy, but that's about it. Noxagt veers off of Lightning Bolt's road of looser and spazzier rock into rather well defined and tight compositions. On the opening track, "Naked in France," Noxagt lets the listener know what they're in for. Taking a moment to ramp up, the song builds momentum until it reaches an explosion of noise. The build up lures the listener into almost boredom, until the drums and guitar are unleashed. Noise is suddenly circulating and bombarding the listener. At the end of the song there is a brief, but great breakdown, making the buildup and whole song worth it. At this point, the whole comparison to metal may be confusing to some, but it isn't the style as a whole so much as it is the unceasing pounding brought on by the songs.
The simple comparison to Lightning Bolt automatically means that they are going to be experimental in their sound, and they are. They push the sound of metal and noise in an appealing direction. By using actual compositions, rather than spazzy noise, they are able contain their songs better.
The Iron Point does lose its steam towards the end, ending up in a position where many of the songs have sounded the same by this point. The songs simply start to become a little boring and meaningless because you get the feeling that you've heard this at the beginning of the album. Despite this, the sound that comes out of the European rockers is more effective in its message, and evoking a feeling of actual European metal more than most bands who try.
