Full Album Premiere & Review: Dune Sea, Orbital Distortion
Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on November 9th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Trondheim, Norway-based heavy psychedelic rockers Dune Sea release their third album, Orbital Distortion, this Friday, Nov. 11, through All Good Clean Records. It is a record whose attention to detail takes the band’s songwriting to a new level, and as the follow-up to 2020’s Moons of Uranus (review here) and their 2019 self-titled debut (review here), it feels very much like a realization and manifestation of what’s been their driving intention all along. The trio of vocalist/guitarist/synthesist Ole Nogva, bassist/synthesist Petter Solvik Dahle and drummer Viktor Olsen Kristensen (also percussion) reach beyond the confines of microgenre to craft a vision of psych rock that’s informed by, among other things, Norse culture, modern cosmic stylings, fuzz fuzz fuzz, and an underlying current of prog that’s as much heard in “Astro Chimp” as the violin on “Hubro.” To say it plainly, Orbital Distortion is gorgeous and expansive, individualized in its craft and admirably broad in its scope, with lyrics switching between delivery in English and Norwegian, brief jammy stretches that would sound made up on the spot if they weren’t so thoughtfully executed, with even a bit of space disco for good measure. Can’t go wrong.
The eight component pieces of Orbital Distortion are longer on average than were the tracks on Moons of Uranus, and where that album had seven of 10 total tracks under four minutes long, the newer LP has one of the total eight in its utterly-manageable 39-minute runtime, but the point is in how that time is spent. From the misleading, almost-Nebula-esque sneer in the early verse of “Astro Chimp” that unfolds into an inviting hook to the nod to extreme metal in closer “Hevn,” Dune Sea make a resounding argument for the benefits of artists listening to music outside their own style. There’s influences from Britpop and hip-hop, indie rock, various world folk musics and beyond as Orbital Distortion unfolds, and by the time “Astro Chimp” is done, the trio have not only displayed these wares but still found room to redirect to a standout riff at the end. In this way, the lead cut sets the tone for the rest of what follows in that it is masterful, composed and rife with purpose. Even in longer pieces like “Hubro,” “Anesthesia” and “Hevn,” which stretch past five minutes — the closer tops seven and is the longest piece Dune Sea have written to-date — the band maintain telltale poise and guide their listener through their deeply varied material with a sure and welcoming hand.
“Hubro” introduces the violin and Norwegian lyrics, some shaker percussion and a deceptively sharp-edged riff nodding into a light shove boogie verse with acoustic guitar layered in. There’s a layered wash in the midsection, quickly-enough resolved back to the catchy guitar line. Bands have made careers with less sonic breadth than Dune Sea show in this 5:28, but the point is there’s room enough in their sound to accommodate whatever changes come as they move toward and through the hook, still using stylization as a tool rather than a standard to uphold. In “Euphorialis” and “Draugen,” which follow and continue to alternate between languages.
The acoustic guitar is held over, but “Euphorialis” brings the bass up front and hits harder on the drums, the guitar stretching out as a bed for the echoing psych vocals. They depart into a jam, return, go again, holding to a space rock tension but not fully committing to it or aping neo-psych bounce (kudos on avoiding the temptation), even as the song explodes into its repetitions of the title in the second half, which is an effective transition into “Draugen,” which ups the metallic quotient in harsher layers of backing vocals, vital fuzz, shades of folk metal, prog, Bowie. It is dynamic and a vocal highlight, but not by any means the only one and not relying strictly on the vocals to get its point across as the engrossing fuzz guitar swells for the next turnaround to the chorus.
It’s notable that as “Draugen” crashes out at 3:30, the instrumental stretch that comprises the rest of the song feels specifically culled from an All Them Witches influence, but is perhaps more Norwegiana than Americana, and that’s a fit for the lead guitar line that starts “Gargantua” as well, which is more decisively folk metal in its twists — Amorphis‘ “Forever More” is a relevant comparison point — even as its verse taps into a meditative psych that “Trinity” will push further, blending aspects of Middle Eastern pop into its guitar and keyboard lines. An extra layer of percussion (or at least what sounds like one) bolsters the sans-lyrics chorus, while the verse pattern of the vocals actually sets the march.
At 4:21, “Trinity” feels like it ends where for a lot of bands it would most likely just be taking off into some meandering progression or other, but Dune Sea made the right choice to serve the song as it is in ending it where they do, and that’s emblematic of their ethic overall in how Orbital Distortion is structured and built, one song into the next, each one making the record stronger. There’s a fakeout ending before “Trinity” gives way to “Anesthesia” — good fun, quick — and the penultimate track starts riffier but doesn’t shy away from poppier melody in its bassline or the wash that arrives with the chorus. Keys, guitar, vocals, all pushed by the drums, surround and touch on metallic angularity, but are thoroughly progged and refuse to be one single thing or style, even as the lead guitar holds an adjacent position to the central movement of the piece in such classic style. Another tonal highlight, “Anesthesia” gives way to an answer to the instrumental finish of “Draugen,” with mellow, feedback-laced guitar fading to silence from which “Hevn” rises.
Rises and runs. The gallop isn’t quite immediate, but it’s not far off. A rougher edge pushes “Hevn”‘s vocals down in the mix so they too can be swept up in the cosmic boogie, which unfolds something like Hawkwind fighting Iron Maiden with Devin Townsend as referee. A positively dreamy midsection, delivered confident, resolute, becomes a progressive-style chug with acoustic guitar and synth tied in, moving into a suitable but not at all overblown finale. To say it’s classy is perhaps underselling some of its bite, but whatever flawed and inherently-at-least-partially-inaccurate genre-based descriptors one might want to use to position this or that measure of a given piece, Orbital Distortion‘s ultimate triumph is moving past these concerns while keeping the band’s established modus of writing short(er), mostly tight-knit songs.
That is the foundation from which their third album soars, and it absolutely does soar. If this is going to be Dune Sea‘s progression — because they in no way sound ready to rest on laurels — then they are on their way to becoming something truly special as a group. One had high hopes coming off of Moons of Uranus, goofily titled as it was. Those hopes have been surpassed and then some by Orbital Distortion. This band deserves your time.
You’ll find the full stream of Orbital Distortion below. I’m honored to host it.
Please enjoy:
Dune Sea on Orbital Distortion:
On the new album we have evolved our songwriting to longer tracks, and included a Norwegian-folk music vibe to some of the songs. This is also the first time we have included Norwegian lyrics. With only eight songs, we have focused on each individual one being almost in a genre itself, with its own sound and production/idea. This time we also include elements of acoustic guitar, violin and screamed vocals by guest appearances. That said, the good space rock/stoner feeling is always safely placed at the bottom.
Since their self-titled debut album in 2019, Dune Sea have establish themselves as a solid part of the Norwegian psych-scene. Their psych-space rock universe has expanded for every release and on this effort it seems like they have left the Earth for good to cruise throughout the cosmos.
Line-Up:
Ole Nogva – Vocals, guitar, and synthesizer
Petter Solvik Dahle – Bass and synthesizer
Viktor Olsen Kristensen – Drums and percussion
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