INTRODUCING: Atena
Looking for something a little warped, a little dark and heavy as hell? ATENA should be right up your street. Founded in 2010, the band bring true noise and brutality in all elements, yet know when to pause for more melodic, calm moments before the chaos thrashes back into the mainframe once more. In terms of length, ATENA are known for creating short, intense songs, filled with complicated technical elements as well as straight ward, hard hitting points. Originally from Drammen, Norway, the band is comprised of Simen Kjeksrud and Jakob Skogli creating a great vocal dynamic, Vebjørn Iversen on guitar, Ulrik Linstad producing some stonking basslines and Fredrik Kåsin on drums. Together the five piece have experimented with their sound to create something completely unique and well worth exploring when you feel in one of those explosive, dark moods.
With two albums under their belts, Of Giants back in 2013, and their latest album Shades of Black Wont Bring Back dropping in October of last year with gruesome brutality, this is a band to take notice of. No, this is not your standard metal, that’s for sure. Lyrically this band takes you down some dark roads, no less evocative for their troubling nature. Within the music itself, there are elements of metalcore, death metal and more experimental elements you might find in prog. The unique, uncharted components of ATENA’s music make for some interesting listening, and the band are all geared up for more high intensity performances, but for those who are unable to catch them live (it doesn’t seem that they’re likely to be branching outside of the region just yet), you’ll just have to lose yourself to the records online. With such dynamics between complimentary and disjointed sounds within the music, ATENA are a true gem in underground scene.
