Featured in our book Chromatic: The Crossroads of Color and Music along with member and über-collagist / visual artist Are Mokkelbost (who also records as Single Unit), KILLL is/was a live-only art-metal project from Oslo that must be experienced in person. Now, chances are that you haven’t been to Oslo, so you’ll have to make due with this, an excerpt recorded at the band’s final show on September 13, 2012.
Killl
50 Unheralded Albums from 2011
In just one more trip around the sun, another swarm of immensely talented but under-recognized musicians has harnessed its collective talents and discharged its creations into the void. This list is but one fraction of those dedicated individuals who caught our ears with some serious jams.
Are Mokkelbost & KILLL: A New Meaning to “Art Metal”
KILLL: s/t (Fysisk Format)
KILLL: “194”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/KILLL_194.mp3|titles=KILLL: “194”]Are Mokkelbost had a problem with purple.
“In Norway, the cultural conception is that it’s a hippie color,” the 35-year-old visual artist and musician says. “A lot of middle-aged women are dressed in purple. So I think it was that association that ruined it for me.”
Instead of avoiding the color, Mokkelbost made a decision to challenge his preference. The result, “ION – Omni No. 6,” is a 90 x 60 cm paper collage that morphs from predominantly purple to blue to green as the viewer’s eye travels up the work.
In the end, the decision was simple. “I tend to design visual systems that include stuff I am ambivalent about,” Mokkelbost says.
Experimentation and fearless decision-making are themes that wind through all of the Oslo-born talent’s work. He constantly strives to improve his craft, whether he’s working on a new collage or playing in one of his many bands.
Norway’s Shining announces more European dates
Style-shifting Norwegian band Shining continues on its acoustic-jazz-turned-jazz-fusion-turned-progressive-metal agenda, announcing 15 new dates for its fall European tour. Shining will pass through select European countries through early November, playing massive riffs from its latest album, Blackjazz (Indie Recordings). Check out Alarm 37 for our review of the album.
During the tour, Shining will share the stage with bands including Ihsahn, Leprous, Xerath, A-Ha, Killl, and Suburban Tribe. For a detailed schedule, visit the band’s website. And yes, that’s the same A-Ha of “Take on Me” fame — which awarded Shining one of its lucrative A-Ha Grants this summer.