Ondt Blod – Natur

Band – Ondt Blod

Album – Natur

Country of Origin – Norway

Genre – Hardcore Punk

Release Date – March 9th, 2018

Label – Fysisk Format

Author – Hayduke X

I definitely reached out of my wheelhouse on this one, or at least my current wheelhouse. Ondt Blod play pop punk blended with hardcore punk, sung in the Sami language, which is spoken by the indigenous people of Norway. There was a time I listened to a lot of punk, and I still love the spirit of punk, but I am admittedly out of touch with the current state of the genre. If Natur is any indication, then punk is alive and well.

Hailing from Kirkenes, Norway, Ondt Blod features Aslak Heika Hætta Bjørn on vocals, sometimes sung, sometimes screamed, Alexander Våga Mortensen and John Nilsen handling guitar duties, Kristoffer Joel Høe on bass, and Håvard Rushfeldt on drums. Together, the quintet play riffs and melodies that are sometimes poppy, sometimes abrasively aggressive, but always catchy. The only thing holding me back from singing along with every single song is a lack of knowledge of the language.

Topically, Natur is about the struggles of the native Sami in their own land, much like the struggles of the indigenous people here in North America. I was able to do an interview with Aslak that explains this in much more detail if I can ever find the time to transcribe it. Lyrics from the title track include the following, once translated into english:

Lived on our knees for so long,

Thought ourselves to love freezing storms

Among frozen lakes and torn-down trees

Liquor, cross, was all they brought to us

Piece by piece our lands are eaten up

Does this sound familiar? Any unbiased student of history will recognize this pattern played out with indigenous populations around the world. The lyrical content takes this album from the realm of excellent musically into the realm of essential. This is political struggle in sonic form!

Recommendation:  Solidarity with the Sami and all indigenous struggle.

Rating:  4.5/5