Rongeur Premiere “Wellpisser” from An Asphyxiating Embrace
Norwegian sludgetossers Rongeur will issue their debut album, An Asphyxiating Embrace, on March 9. They’ve aligned themselves to no fewer than three separate labels for the occasion: Poacher Records has the initial digital release — that’s this week — late Spring (May or June, depending on whom you ask) will see cassette and vinyl out through Poacher, as well as Ampmandens Records and Aonair Records. Complicated? Don’t worry, by the time you make it through the track premiere for “Wellpisser” below, you’ll feel like you were hit over the head and you won’t remember anything anyway. It’ll be like the confusion never happened. Thud.
An Asphyxiating Embrace — or as I’ve enjoyed thinking of it, ‘the bear-hug that kills you’ — offers claustrophobia worthy of it title, and for that reason one might try to to peg it as post-metal, but that’s hardly even the surface level of the melting pot formed by the eight-track/30-minute offering, throughout which songs like “The Weight of Guilt” blend punishing low end and soaring guitars and keys for an effect that offsets the ultra-pissed noise punk of the earlier “Special Needs” or the everybody-scream-at-the-same-time onslaught of “Mr. Hands.” A catchall like “noise rock” ultimately applies no less than a catchall like “progressive” to what the Oslo three-piece put together in their material, but I don’t think there’s any denying that from the opening lumber of “Weltschmerz” through the rawer bass and feedback interplay of “Chained to a Dead Horse,”
the core of the album is in its aggressive thrust.
That said, there are moments of flourish one finds throughout, like the keyboards that arrive and come to the fore on “Wellpisser,” the trio of bassist/vocalist Dag Ole, guitarist/vocalist Ken-Robert and drummer/backing vocalist Jon incorporating more spacious guitar leads and keys amid the by-then-familiar rumble of low end beneath. Followed by the chugging and more bare-bones arrangement of “The Deconstructionist,” “Wellpisser” is a standout from much of An Asphyxiating Embrace, but nonetheless representative when it comes to the spirit of the full-length overall, which is to operate with efficient brutality — a kind of thoughtful onslaught playing out over its course that presents itself with deceptive variety through songs like the rolling “Friendsliebe” and the Mellotron-laced creeper-riff-into-aggro-explosion in “The Weight of Guilt,” on which High on Fire-style gallop meets with ’90s hardcore in only the cruelest of presentations.
Their first full-length, An Asphyxiating Embrace follows behind the 2015 demo collection, The Catastrophist and As the Blind Strive Demos (review here), and benefits from the lessons learned across those 2013 and 2014 shorter releases in terms of its fluidity, diversity of approach and general level of craft and production. It is the proverbial impressive debut from a band who’ve obviously given thought to how they want to direct the weapon that is their sound.
You can stream the premiere of “Wellpisser” below, followed by the idiomatic origin story of the title — if anyone needs me I’ll be trying to work the word into daily conversation — and more info from the PR wire. Please enjoy:
Dag Ole on An Asphyxiating Embrace:
The album An Asphyxiating Embrace is in essence a frustrated observation of the human inadequacy to make rational choices. It dwells on the metaphysical aspects of social norms, religion and politics, but without being dogmatic about any of these. Rather it poses more questions than it offers answers. So hope and relief has to be found elsewhere. If anywhere.
The song title “Wellpisser” is derived from old norse “brunnmigi” or “brønnpisser,” meaning to urinate in somebody’s well, i.e. drinking water. It is today used as a derogatory expression in modern political discourse to portray political opponents as fraudulent and false, and is a means to disguise one’s real intentions. However, it should come as no surprise that this phenomenon of dishonesty in regards to intentions appears in all spheres of human interaction. This song is thus about deceit.
Rongeur’s first release was a compilation of demos, the Catastrophist (2013) and As the Blind Strive (2014), issued on cassette by the British label Aonair Productions in December 2015. These demo recordings were then released on compact disc by Disiplin Media (now defunct) in April 2015 with a worldwide distribution deal. In March 2015 Rongeur entered the studio of Jørgen Karlstrøm (ex-Hexed) at PhatCat Studios in Oslo to record four crushing tracks. Two of these were released as a digital split release with Ampmandens Døtre in September 2015, and the remaining two tracks were released as the “God and I/Good War” 7” vinyl single via Ampmandens Records in April 2016.
In late January 2017 the band recorded nine new tracks at Norsk Lydstudio to be featured in their debut full length album “An Asphyxiating Embrace”. The record is mixed and mastered by Ruben Willem at Caliban Studios. The digital version will be released on Poacher Records on the 9th of March 2018, and will also be released on physical format (vinyl and cassette) in May/June 2018 via Poacher Records, Ampmandens Records and Aonair Records.
Rongeur is:
Dag Ole: bass and vocals
Ken-Robert: guitar and vocals
Jon: drums and vocals less
