Snöras (in English:
“avalanche”, although usually spelled
snøras) was a screamo band from Oslo that formed
some time in . Snöras was primarily the project of
Yngve Hilmo, who did the songwriting, vocals, and much
of the instrumentation. However, the member listing above also reflects other
musicians who have been members of Snöras (particularly when playing
live), especially Mads Hornsletten, who played most of the drums for Snöras in addition to being the drummer for Kaospilot, another screamo
outfit also from Oslo. Snöras released a
trilogy of full-length records, with the first two installments in and , respectively,
followed by the final installment in .
Snöras’s music is typically characterised by punchy eighth-note
chords and somewhat high tempi during heavier sections, which make use of the
full range of the guitar and enjoy typically heavy syncopation
and off-kilter rhythmic stabs due to some influence of math
rock. This is accompanied by the pained screams & yelps, and the often complex and dynamic song structures typical
of screamo. Although the vocal style and the consistent use
of these eighth-note block chords creates a somewhat homogeneous texture
throughout the first two albums, the exact way that these chords are composed
and the complex latent rhythmic structures make Snöras’s music
unusually melodic/catchy, angular, and varied. Add in the mellower and more
texturally experimental sections that break this texture up, and you have the
approach that made Snöras one of the best bands that screamo has to offer. The final installment in the trilogy,
“Life in the Gutter” (),
retains some of the qualities of the first two installments (if you listen
closely enough), but has an intentionally verylo-fi aesthetic that makes
picking out individual notes rather difficult; as self-described: “The
album goes back to square one: No frills. No fancy stuff. Just a mess of drums,
guitar and screaming straight to tape”.
