1. You And Me Should Leave Together Tonight/2. Winter Song/3. Sunny Day/4. Hausmania/5. Running Song/6. (I’ve Been) Bad On Emma/7. Headphones/8. Fugue/9. Edge of a Cloud/10. Your Line is Divine /11. On The Hill
Release Date: January 22, 2016 Riot Factory
While we were anxious for 2016 to reveal itself, nobody was ready for the news that would shake the music world so much that life seemed to stand still for a few days. Our first album review for 2016 is being written in the aftermath of Ian Fraser Kilmister a.k.a Lemmy and David Jones a.k.a David Bowie’s passings. Yet somehow the debut album ‘Roaring At The Storm’ by Sauropod provided an outlet for all my anger, distress, sadness, disappointment and bitterness caused by these news.
If you find yourselves at the ‘eye of the storm’ would you like a soundtrack to accompany you?
Every time I have listened to this album I have realized not only why it is worth listening but also why it couldn’t have been released at a better period. As we have said in our introductory text, Sauropod are formulating the atmosphere of their debut album using three elements creatively: 90’s grunge inspired vocals, guitars that reference black metal music and punk mood and rhythms. You might think that this mix of different elements might not sound more than the sum of its parts, but Sauropod beg to differ. You will need at least three hearings of this album from beginning to end in order to get a grasp of what Jonas Røyeng (guitar, vocals), Kamillia Waal Larsen (bass, vocals) and Jørgen Natland Apeness (drums) are putting out in terms of emotions. The alteration of styles is constant within the album and within almost each song. It was only towards the end of ‘Roaring at The Storm’ that I realized that what Kamillia is implying through her cabaret/punk/variété/narrating style vocals, Jonas brings out angrily as a shouting cry of a howling monster who has been constrained for far too long…
“We’ve never made songs in the studio or at the computer like a lot of songwriters do, we try to make them work immediately in the room we’re playing in… “ (extract from an interview, Sauropod)
Jonas has a characteristic tremble on his voice that contains all the shades of bitterness in it. He alternates this tremble with screeching loud vocals and these vocals, trigger my emotional response towards all the loss that seems to have filled the music world lately and which I have experienced very intensely. This is one of the reasons why I found that this album is relevant for me for this specific period.
Starting with two loud, bitter and angry songs (‘You And Me Should Leave Together Tonight’ and ‘Winter Song’), Sauropod seem to be preparing the ground in order for us to welcome the rest of the album with as much intensity as possible. The repetitive lyrics and their agonizing performance electrify our emotions and makes us anxious just as a protester should be before ‘fighting’ for a justifiable cause. ‘Sunny Day’ stresses the more subtle melodies which are being played on the electric guitar and which have a similar psychological effect as Halcyon days during winter. It is important to say that melody is not at all absent in this debut album, on the contrary its role is both primary and apparent in each song. Melody is being revealed in different ways throughout the album: sometimes through transitions that happen within a noisy sonic background and other times by being brought to the foreground (i.e. 1.03-1.1.9 in ‘Sunny Day’, ‘Running Song’). ‘Roaring At The Storm’ is neither a tiring album nor an album comprised of songs with similar aesthetics. There is bitterness, anger, even bittersweet humour in the lyrics throughout the album yet each song represents a different take on these elements. To be more specific, if you think that an acoustic song by Sauropod would be following familiar paths, then be ready to be surprised. ‘Running Song’ and ‘On The Hill’ may start with sweet melodies and singing style but Kamillia joins Jonas in the vocals, in order to add to the emotional intensity and bitterness of the atmosphere in both songs while Jonas offers dramatic outbursts in both cases. If these duets are not riveting then I don’t know what is. Similarly, the approach of the band to punk is not the ‘traditional’ one. ‘Headphones’ might have a punk feel throughout but it is not a typical angry punk song with female vocals. I liked how heavy noise guitars dominate the instrumental parts of the song and how they are in contrast with the punk, narrating style of the vocals which have a very simple rhythmic sonic background. Taking into account that the lyrics are describing a leisure, ‘innocent’, almost routine activity (“I walk alone with headphones on, in the middle of the night, in the middle of the road. I call my friend again and again…“), the heavy guitars that fill the atmosphere afterwards, seem to be presaging a disaster!
While this album presents us with the music territories on which Sauropod will probably navigate from now on, at the same time the singing styles reveal an overall attitude towards life that is both irreconcilable and assertive. ‘Winter Song’ in particular is one of my favourite songs from this album and makes me want to literally roar at the ‘storm’ of feelings that sad news create inside me! Following the most obscure and atmospheric track of all, ‘Your Line Is Divine’, the album closes with…a lullaby like no other! ‘On the Hill’ offers a bittersweet ending to a very dynamic album and a great start for Sauropod.
We can only hope to see them live in London, as for me…
…if I ever found myself at the ‘eye of a storm’ I would want ‘Winter Song’ in my ears and when I got out of the storm I would like ‘On the Hill’ to welcome me back…
Blaue Rosen 