Frantic Bleep, slightly less well-known than the previous two bands in this list, is the first entry from Norway, but they certainly won't be the last. An uncanny percentage of excellent metal bands hail from Scandinavia, and from Norway in specific. When you figure that combined populations of all of Europe and the United States alone are over 1 billion, you wouldn't expect little 5-million-person Norway to have much representation in any list, except maybe winter sports. Perhaps it's my bias as a son of a daughter of a Norwegian, or perhaps it's something to do with the whole Vikings and Valhalla history. Whatever the case, Norway has more than its fair share of this list and, in my opinion, great metal bands (and perhaps musicians in general). Especially those of the experimental variety.
Which brings me back to Frantic Bleep. I haven't heard a lot of bands who sound like these guys. They play a mid-to-slow tempo, heavy variety of progressive metal with mostly clean (although there are occasional growls) mid-range vocals. It's kind of angular music, although also melodic, and I find myself singing some of the odd riffs and melodies to myself after listening to them for a bit. They're certainly not as conventional as some of the other bands on my list, nor are they as mind-bogglingly technical. But they play an interesting and unique brand of metal with somehow convincing songwriting and precision. Unfortunately, they seem to have disappeared after one full-length album.
"...But a Memory" is probably my favorite song off of that album, although they're pretty consistent. It kicks off with the main riff, which is a strange two-measure wave-shaped scalar melody with an extra half-beat in it. The odd 4/4+(3/4+3/8) meter continues through the vocal verse (there's not really a chorus in this song) and then repeats the opening riff and a mellower version of the verse. The loping (limping?) feel and time signature continues still through a quiet interlude without drums and then the third intonation of the verse, this time louder and heavier than the first two. Just when you're getting used to it and maybe even tapping your toe, the song switches at 2:55 to a more conventional 4/4 feel, although with some odd syncopation in the rhythm section that proceeds through the synth solo, final vocal, and then closes out the song. This is definitely not "Cult Of Personality" but I hope you like it!
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