Norwegian rock pioneer Arabrot

With their seventh album 'The Gospel' scheduled for release on 26th February via Fysisk Format, Norwegian rock pioneers Arabrot have now announced a run of European dates. 'The Gospel' could just as well never have happened.

Just before going on a three week UK tour, Arabrot main man Kjetil Nernes discovered an unsettling itch in his throat. After a quick visit to the doctor, Nernes completed the tour with an alarming secret: Malignant cancer.

The album you have in front of you is a collection of the music and lyrics written while undergoing surgery, treatment and recovery. In Nernes' own words:

"The theme of the Gospel is a vision of the lonely warrior on a summit looking out over a battle field, the smoke from the bomb craters, an all-encompassing silence. The war was against one self; against the ugliness, against the sickness. You sink to the bottom of the sea. All of a sudden you are back on the surface again, stupefied. And hungry! A wicked hunger for everything human life has to offer: Sex! War! Drugs! You breathe, but not like before. "The man who has been in hell, never forget""

During their 12 years of existence, Arabrot has managed to upset and confuse people in every possible way. From the get go in Haugesund on the windy Norwegian westcoast, where it all started, they've been provoking people with controversial artwork and music ranging from sleazy punk rock to cerebral experimentalism.

Carrying all the hallmarks of a cult band and with hard core fans all over the world, Arabrot have blown up everything from the dirtiest squats to art galleries and huge festivals. On the side of their rock band setup, they've also done music for silent movies like Die Niebelungen and Doctor Caligari and provided live music for The Quietus-founder John Doran's spoken word tour.

On top of all of this they won a Norwegian grammy for their 2011 album Solar Anus.

The new album is recorded partly at Steve Albini's Electrical Audio in Chicago and partly in the old church in the woods of Dalarna, Sweden where Nernes lives and runs his studio these days. Listen to title track 'The Gospel' which the band revealed towards the end of 2015 - https://soundcloud.com/tigerfysisiskformat

Arabrot has had a revolving crew of contributors the last 4 years. This time the band has been reinforced with among others, Ted Parsons (Killing Joke, Swans, Prong) on drums, Andrew Liles (Current 93/Nurse With Wound) and Stephen O'Malley (SunnO))/KTL) on guitar. Kvelertak singer Erlend Hjelvik also appears with norse guest vocals on "Ah Feel". As usual, the artwork is signed by Norwegian artist Johannes Hoie.