Recently unveiled Norwegian Heavy Metal juggernaut-in-the-making AVRAK was founded in November 2023 by guitarists Anders Hegna (Nød, El Kayenne, Svidd Grevling) and Ted Skjellum; notable for being half of legendary duo, Darkthrone. The pair had known each other for many years, and with a mutual passion for old, classic rock and metal they finally embarked upon this new journey together under the banner of AVRAK.
It quickly became evident that both were on the same page, with AVRAK’s first compositions taking shape within just 5 days. Ted had declared from the beginning that he would not carry out main vocal duties in the band, and so it was Anders – with his own vocal grit a comfortable match anyway – who assumed the role. Several weeks later, Terje Kråbøl (Gjendød, Sarke, Faustcoven) was brought in on the drums and, from there-on, with his percussive presence backing up some thunderous riffing, the creative work accelerated, culminating in the self-titled, hook-laden and doom-laced rock debut, ‘AVRAK’.
Ahead of the album, they’ve delivered the single ‘Unborn’: watch the lyric video here:
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Suitably and epically defined as a monumental “Heavy Metal voyage from the peak of the mountains to the depths of the seas”, and delivering themes relating to empowerment in the face of increasingly corrupt times, ‘AVRAK’ is a combination of a vast multitude of influences, as the eclectic, deceptively nuanced nine track offering features a classic heavy metal and doom rock backbone, with further experimentation including synth passages, and even some traces of black metal riffing in its DNA.
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Aural Aggravation 