ROVDYR are a young band hailing from Norway, home of some of the finest Metal the wonderful continent of Europe has to offer. Funnily enough, the band's style is remarkably American sounding, but they do a decent job of pounding out some heavy grooves on their debut LP, 2015's "From Nothing To No One."

Aside from some of the more accepted acts like AS I LAY DYING and KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, Metalcore bands get a bad rap from the average Metal fan, fair or not. ROVDYR don't pretend to be anything other than a young, hungry Metalcore band, but the conviction with which they play goes a long way towards establishing them as a credible and talented act, even if they leave some room for improvement. There is no shortage of emotion throughout "From Nothing," with songs like "Evolving," "To No One," and "Remorse For The Time" that are nothing but sincere in their delivery, powered by the band's percussive riffing, battering drums, and Lars Olsen's versatile vocal work. Granted, Olsen has his so-so moments, like on the aforementioned "To No One," but it is certainly for no lack of effort, and it doesn't hurt the general message of the music too much. Considering that English is not the band's first language, it's actually very impressive how natural Olsen sounds for the majority of the album in his delivery as well as the composition of the lyrics.

Interestingly, the second half of the album is the more diverse side, and it is a welcome proposition after the solid but sometimes repetitive first-half. "Gradient" takes time to build up its energy before unleashing its bitter fury, while "Reincarnation" stands out as perhaps the most serious-sounding and all-around dark offerings yet, relying on palm-muted, open-string chugging less than a number of the other songs. "With No Words" rounds things out with plenty to say musically and vocally, and while it's not the catchiest song on the album, it gets the point across without sounding nearly as long as its 6+ minute length.

"From Nothing To No One" doesn't try to re-write the book on Metalcore, but it serves as a strong reminder of how the style ought to sound, without sounding too stereotypical for bands of this sort. I would recommend it to anyone who likes Metalcore or intense, melodic Metal in general.