Some more weird and wonderful things from the frozen north... The latest album, No Need to Reason, from Icelandic band Kontinuum is an odd mix

Firstly I really don't like the opening track, Shivers. I don't really know why but it reeks of a hackneyed attempt at latter day Katatonia (which I'm not a fan of). However by persevering to tracks 3 and 4 the album really gets going. Warm Blood turns the guitars up to a crunchier level and Neuron then slows it all done to a stately pace.....

It's a bit of a shame that the mix of vocals in both Icelandic and English has been dropped but the ballad like Two Moons is still worth checking out

There are bits of 'Goth', a splash of Echo and the Bunnymen and modern Scandinavian morose metal to be found in varying degrees - even the occasional death growl to shake things up. It's not as an immediate album as the earlier Kyrr but it could be a grower