DÜREFORSÖG — Knee (review)

Album · 1997 · Avant-garde Metal

4/5 · 2011-11-25
UMUR

"Knee" is the debut full-length studio album by Danish Avant garde metal/rock act Düreforsög (translates into Animal Testing). "Knee" is a classic album in Danish music history first and foremost because it sounds like nothing else that has ever come out of Denmark. A strange mix of extreme styles ensures that you´re in for an interesting listening experience.

The music is not for faint hearted souls as it is a mix of brutal, heavy and mostly mid to slow paced death metal parts (those parts sometimes remind me of the breakdowns practised by a band like Dying Fetus) and avant garde rock parts with lots of fast percussion playing. The vocals by lead vocalist Boriz Schiøler are varied and alternate between mouse-like shrieking singing to deep brutal death metal growling. Boriz Schiøler also uses his voice in a more ordinary manner though. A very interesting vocalist. All five tracks from the Demo Tape "Replacing Hinges Or... (1995)" are also present in newly recorded versions on "Knee" and two of those demo tracks are actually favorites of mine on the album. "Me, Myself & Ear" is a great song with almost Snake ( Voivod) like vocals and it´s great to hear Düreforsög doing something different. "There's Something Inside My Knee" just needs to be given a special mention for the high energy level and sheer aggression. What a great energetic song. Energetic is in fact one of the most fitting words that can be used to describe the music on "Knee". From start to finnish Düreforsög never lets up. This is a relentless album so don´t look for breathers. The lyrics are weird and at times funny. Düreforsög is not the kind of band that take themselves very seriously. That doesn´t mean that the general quality of the music suffers though.

The musicianship is outstanding. The guys in the band were no more than 19-20 years old when they recorded this album and just listen to what they are playing. They are extremely skilled musicians. Rune T who is credited for playing on rubbish needs to be mentioned for his outstanding percussion skills. This guy could have played with Zappa that´s how good he is IMO. Unfortunately he would leave the band after this album.

The production is strong. It´s not flawless but suits the music well. The vocals are a bit low in the mix when Boriz is not growling but it´s a minor flaw. It´s noteworthy that Peter Schneidermann aka Peter Peter (Sods, Sort Sol, Bleeder) is credited as producer on "Knee".

"Knee" is a pretty original album allthough influences from some of the projects Mike Patton has been involved in are apparent. I will mention Mr. Bungle and Tomahawk. The music on "Knee" is not as out there as the music practiced by Mr. Bungle though so if you like your avant garde rock/ metal with a somewhat easier accessible approach "Knee" might be the answer. I know I have enjoyed myself greatly with this album and I´ve considered giving "Knee" a rating somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. I´ll make it a small 4 star rating though. It´s very rarely an album makes my body move in spastic movements (that´s what it looks like when I dance) and for that they deserve that extra half star.

(By the way. Notice that beautiful childish cover art. Just hilarious when you know that you can expect death metal growling and avant garde rock parts inside).