Week 4, Nomans Land

   Nomans Land are a viking metal outfit from St Petersburg, Russia. They formed in the mid-nineties and released their debut album in 2000. Nomans Land are the one band I always think of when I ask myself what really good viking metal group I can recommend to somebody that they've probably never heard of. Their music is generally pretty upbeat and positive sounding, as viking metal goes. There are baritone choruses along with the harsh vocals. The riffs are clear, catchy, and easily distinguishable. Additionally, many songs feature chipper little interludes that sound like something straight out of a Legend of Zelda soundtrack. This really is, in same way as a band like Korpiklaani, what you could think of as "happy metal". If you need high levels of aggression, hatred, and darkness in your metal, you will probably not like Nomans Land.

   2005's Hammerfrost, the band's second full-length release, was my introduction to their music. It's still my favorite entry in their catalog, and one of my personal favorite viking metal albums period. The album opener Lord of the Seas is an excellent example of their sound at its absolute best, and it's one of the catchiest metal songs you'll ever hear.

   Noman's Land have released a total of four albums to date (Last Son of the Fjord, Hammerfrost, Raven Flight, and Farnord) along with a demo and a split with Thrudvangar. Their material is generally all enjoyable, but I'd personally recommend starting with Hammerfrost if you think they sound like a band you might find interesting.

   So, for their fun-spirited take on viking adventures, Nomans Land are my metal band of the week.

Week 3, Invader

   This week is not a conventional post, and the title is actually more of an excuse than a recommendation. Invader is the name of my own solo music project, and the reason I haven't put together an actual blog post is because I've been locked away into the wee hours of the night working on the EP I've been recording. I'm happy to report that it's basically finished, though I may still need to do a tiny bit of tweaking on the final mix levels. You can't get any of the songs anywhere yet, but just because I feel like I ought to at least do SOMETHING in this post besides make excuses, I'll go ahead and post the cover art and track listings.

Tracks:
1. The Beginning
2. Fanatic
3. Space and Time
4. Subsume
5. Vicious Hunger

   My standard description is that it sounds like an industrial black metal band from Mars. The cover art is my own, so it's copyright of me and all that stuff. I apologize for the lack of a real post this week. Now that I'm done recording I will get back to being good and all, and I'll post a real band for week 4. As for my creation here, it doesn't sound totally horrible, so maybe later I'll upload a track or two online and link those. But for now I'll just close.

   For my lack of time to write about a real band, Invader is my metal band of the week.