Husmanskost – Sykkelstjæling

Norway is one of the great lands of Metal and one of those nations where the genre runs very deep, regardless of the style or approach to that kind of music. In that regard, it is always exciting to discover new talents that are just starting out and are trying to make their own little imprint in this world.

In this particular case we have the Grindcore/Crossover band Husmanskost, who have just released their latest offering, 2021’s EP, Sykkelstjæling (which roughly translates to Bicyclestealing or Stealing Bicycles). This is the band’s first release since 2019’s EP, Solstice II, which ended up being the last release with John-Åge Olsen on vocals–now the band is just Niklas Mortensen on drums and Kai Andre Kofoed now doing the vocals in addition to guitars and bass.

Hailing from the small town of Kristiansund, this band started out back in 2015 and so far they have released four studio albums (2016’s Fåricore, 2017’s Ründpült, 2018’s Ambi-Valence and 2019’s Global Cognitive Slumber), a live album (2018’s Official Traditional Homecooked Bootleg (Live in Molde) 18.05.2018) and a couple of EPs (2018’s Solstice and 2019’s Solstice II), so we’re talking about a band that has had a lot of experience throughout the years and you can tell when listening to this EP.

The EP starts with Ny truse (part 2) and we already can tell what this band is all about: powerful drumming, quality bass work and a strong guitar that takes control of the whole thing. The vocals are aggressive, but the low production makes for a much more powerful and darker experience. This is a typical Grindcore track to some degree, but you can also tell that small Black Metal influence in some passages of the song. The main riff on the middle of the song is definitely one of the best things of the whole song.

Sundbåtmassakeren follows the opener and it is a lot more rhythmic, which I think makes for a nice change of pace. Of course, the first one is a straight to the point kind of track and here we can start seeing the band’s nuances from a musical perspective. The main riff, the one that kicks in when the vocals start, is definitely the best element of the track. And as a whole, Husmanskost is a riff-based band and you can tell when listening to this EP.

Kai Andre does a bit more of guitar magic with his parts on the third track, Gla’cælla, where we hear the guitar having even more of the spotlight than what we have heard so far. But it would be really unfair of me to not give Niklas Mortensen some credit for his work on drums because we’re talking about a really good musician in that regard and his input in this track and the whole EP is top notch.

Cover of the E.P.

But I think Sykkelstjæling is my favorite track of the whole EP. It has a nice galloping rhythm and it shows both Kai Andre and Mortensen at their best, with some really good guitar and drums work thrown in there. It’s an intense, commanding track and one that could serve as a very nice introduction of what the band stands for. It’s also one of the best songs that the band has done, at least from a technical perspective.

At last, we finish the EP with Föliehätt. I think this is the one song where the band plays their Black Metal influences on their sleeves and I believe it makes for a more varied experience because they can add some really nice nuances, like that melodic interval during the main guitar riff–those kinds of things, from my perspective, make this band really interesting.

Overall, Sykkelstjæling is a very nice and concise appetizer of what this band is about. It’s less than 15 minutes long too! So you can listen to it in no time and you’re getting six songs from it. Not a bad deal, if you ask me.

A good EP and a very interesting introduction to a very unknown and yet very concise Metal outfit from Norway. Definitely worth your time if you’re into extreme music.