Årabrot – Solar Anus

While Georges Bataille may have defined the Solar Anus in the unifying language of sexual imagery, Årabrot have further developed it into this, a pseudo-sexual voyage of apocalyptic noise rock and bloody-minded brutality. Bataille’s themes are mirrored in the marriage of pious and perverted within Auto Da Fe’s halls of angelic moans and grinding, looping bass, and when Kjetil Nernes echoes the philosopher’s words of “Coitus is the parody of crime” on Solaranus, it’s nothing short of flesh-crawling.

Perhaps the reason for such physical reactions lies within the tone, rather than the sentiment. Opener Solaranus doesn’t steamroll across the senses as much as drags itself through the mud, leaving a mulchy trail of decaying chords and sneers in its wake, and while Odine is the nearest the Norwegians venture to anything resembling convention, it’s still got a bark to its central muted riff that’d brown the seat of any Nickelback fan. Utter filth, just the way we like it.