UNDER THE OAK: Norwegian Heavy Thrashers Return With new Album "Rattus Norvegicus"

Our debut album, Ripped up by the Roots (2020), went down pretty well and got […]

August 3, 2022

Our debut album, Ripped up by the Roots (2020), went down pretty well and got far more attention than we expected. The reviews were great, and a lot of people showed interest. Covid 19 restricted the live work, of course, but we still managed to get quite a few shows, including an opening slot for At the Gates.

We feel that a lot of people have great expectations of our new album. Ripped up by the Roots came as a surprise to everyone, but now everybody knows what we are capable of, and they are waiting for us to prove it to them. That's how we feel, anyway. However, we didn't let that stress us out. We just made the best album we could, and as long as we are happy with it ourselves, we can't really control what other people think. Personally, we feel that we have topped the debut by far. We have grown as musicians and songwriters and are a much tighter unit now, both in the studio and on stage. We also had better confidence because of how well Ripped up by the Roots was received. So, what is different? Well, not that much, really. We have realized that we are as much a Heavy Metal band as a Thrash Metal band, and we have embraced that part of our sound. When we in the past were a bit afraid to fall out of the Thrash Metal genre, we now are perfectly comfortable with having one foot in each camp. It's not by choice. It's only natural. Our inspirations come from many genres, but mainly from the Heavy- and Thrash Metal of the eighties.

We can still do tribute shows with a lot of cover tunes, and sometimes we do. However, usually, people want to hear our own stuff as well, so we are proud to do both. Most shows these days have more Under the Oak originals than cover songs, but we have a lot of fun playing live either way. Our philosophy is that our music really comes alive when performed in front of an audience, and we take a lot of pride in trying to sound better live than in the studio.

We hope you'll enjoy listening to Rattus Norvegicus. We certainly enjoyed making it.

The line-up of the band is still:
Vocals ' Jostein (ex. Fury, ex Testimony)
Drums ' Marius (ex. Terrazone, ex Mecalimb)
Bass ' Hillbilly Bill (ex. Excelsis, ex Dressed to Kiss. Current member of Rövballebandet and Nostalgic Groove)
Guitars ' Thomas Bolverk (ex. Darkness, ex. Black Currant, ex. Images at Twilight, ex. Ragnarok. Current member of Venom tribute band Welcome to Hell and Extreme Metal act: BOLVERK:)

Ten UNDER THE OAK-originals and two cover songs are to be found on Rattus Norvegicus. 9 songs on the vinyl and 12 songs for streaming and CD. The songs are:

1. Total Trash Metal
2. Running With Scissors
3. Our Own Choice
4. Inner Demon
5. Walls of Pain
6. Loyal to the Core
7. Bangkok Haircut *
8. Everything Became Nothing
9. Pandemic
10. Rattus Norvegicus
11. Echoes of a Distant Battle (originally recorded by TANK)
12. Mad Butcher/Bestial Invasion (originally recorded by DESTRUCTION)
*bonus songs for CD and streaming