Independent Relaese
Review by Tony Cannella
Normah is an all female heavy/progressive/doom metal band from Greece. Their independently released EP is called “Darkest is the Hour Before the Dawn”. Normah are definitely on the heavier side of the metal spectrum, so don’t expect anything nice, poppy or sweet. This is pure metal and pure metal that is played with passion. The fiercely powerful riff of “Iron Mother” opens the EP. The song is so heavy and has no shortage of heavy riffs with a classic metal vibe. Having a drummer that is also your lead singer is a rarity in metal but that is the case with Normah with Marianiki pulling double duty. Her vocals are not bad but nothing special either, but they did tend to grow on me as the EP progressed. The drum intro leads us into the chugging opening riff of the haunting “Tormentor 22” which develops into a thrash-like number. “Spirit of the Night” maintains the albums’ heaviness whilst slowing down the tempo just a bit at the beginning before speeding up and becoming one of the more ferocious songs on the 5-song, 20-minute EP. The oddly titled “Readheadz” is next and the eerie track “Clown” closes the album. Let’s face it clowns are scary and I guess that is the theme behind this song. Musically this song is all over the place. It has some massive riffs (which you can pretty much say about every song), and it also features progressive elements, some movie samples and some extreme metal vocals. This was easily my favorite song. Overall, I have to say that Normah impressed me. “Darkest is the Hour Before Dawn” possesses some good musicianship and the songs are well written and performed.
Rating – 75/100
Tracklist
- Iron Mother
- Tormentor 33
- Spirit of the Night
- Redheadz
- Clown
Line Up
- Marianiki – Drums, Vocals
- Sofia A. – Guitars
- Tenia – Guitars
- Sofia I. – Bass
Links