Back in the Norwegian scene to speak of a heavy name of Black Metal, or should I say of Thrash Metal? Good question! The point is that these Extreme Metal titans, the AURA NOIR band from Oslo, recently released a new album titled "Aura Noire'' by Indie Recordings on April 27, 2018, and now it's finally time to explore this release. For those who do not know AURA NOIR is one of those bands that maintains an etiquette of honor within Thrash Metal, I say this considering that all the main aspects of the original style are kept here, and counting the 25 years of history, few interval breaks, and releases between full-length, demos, live, split, we can consider that they are really rooted in the international underground keeping the tradition of style as few bands do.

A dirty sonority (in a good way), aggressiveness, and fierce instrumental are trademarks signed by big names in the industry like EXODUS and OVERKILL and this applies literally to AURA NOIR, however I dare say that bands like this keep a plateau moreover, and external influence certainly did not win this potent trio. Add to that a little of the lines of Black Metal is the result is always powerful, or weird as I've heard in some definitions, but particularly the sound of these guys infuriates the soul and the spirit of the style stays alive. We go to the album, starting with "Dark Lung of the Storm" that starts more slowly but it explodes in energy to the 0:56 minutes of hearing, the riffs are fierce and the fit with the sonority of the bass is really interesting, the frenetic battery lines and Apollyon's almost roar vocal keeps the track in pure energy. For fans of bands like VENOM and EXCITER this is a dish to be digested satisfactorily.

 But it is in "Grave Dweller" that we understand the band's affinity with the Black Metal of its origin, the track sounds bleak while the consistency of the Thrash is still present, the same for "Hell's Lost Chambers" follows the same pattern and a detail needs to be mentioned at this point, the band has greatly changed their references from previous works, if before the faster and grunt riffs succumbed to pulsating drum lines, we now find a bit of slowness and different fittings for the band's standard, that can cause some doubt in who accompanied the band in time of "Black Thrash Attack" that sounded like the death itself giving the message, now the sensation is uncontrollable, and all the instrumentation may appear to be incoherent but this is where I indicate a new hearing . It is necessary to say that when a band creates a different pattern than the public is already accustomed there is a certain momentary discomfort but a second hearing is enough to realize that ferocious album we have here, and this is a rare item in the middle of 2018, a band create a line in a style already so comprehensive.

And if on the one hand the bands up to here have taken you into a deep chaos, I see that from "Demoniac Flow" things are taking an incredible turn. The drums seem to catch fire as the guitar follows rampant lines and the Apollyon vocal has a better fit and the Old School Thrash metal takes over in an abrupt and voracious way. From the follow-up releases this year, I am impressed by not following the current parameters and keeping the style alive in a creative and volatile way. Highlight for "Cold Bone Grasp" and "The Obscuration".