Audrey Horne - No Hay Banda (2005)

When it comes to buying stuff off of eBay I really like to hunt for the bargains. My interest in Audrey Horne derived from the fact that some of the members here are involved in the bands Sahg and Enslaved, but also simply because I won this album for one single cent, still wrapped, brand spankin' new. Not bad.

Audrey Horne is a Norwegian band featuring both Tom Cato Visnes and Thomas Tofthagen from Sahg, Herbrand Larsen and Arve Isdal from Enslaved all filling their usual roles as well as the lesser known Kjetil Greve on drums and Toschie handling the vocals. The name Audrey Horne is taken from Sherilyn Fenn's character in the TV series, "Twin Peaks," which means they're enthusiasts of the overrated garbage that is David Lynch films, but I'll spare you that rant for now.

Audrey Horne: Norwegian Rockers

Musically these guys break away greatly from their metal roots and deliver some sort of heavy alternative rock with a bit of a 90's grunge vibe to it. Influences seem to range from stuff like Alice in Chains, Tool, A Perfect Circle and Stone Temple Pilots, and as much as I hate to say it it feels like some Staind or Foo Fighters characteristics can be found too, but that might just be me hearing this within their sound. All of the songs, even the hard rocking ones, carry a bit of a moody character to them with a good sense of melodicism and catchiness with lyrics centered around life, relationships and death, though I couldn't tell you if the lyrics have any special connection to Twin Peaks.

Arve and Thomas both hammer out some decent and often times memorable riffs as well Arve rips a classic solo here and there too, while Herbrand's keyboards float atmospherically in the background, Tom's bass lingers alongside and Kjetil's drum work is perfectly suited for this sort of music. Toschie (aka Torkjell Rød) is one of the stronger points on this record since he's able to convey a numbers of emotions through his vocal work and has a great range and depth to his voice.

'Confessions & Alcohol' really stands as the albums highpoint as an amazingly catchy, darkly themed song with superb vocals and a great solo too, while 'Blackhearted Visions' is just a straightforward hard hitting rock song. 'Airsupply' is also quite good with something of an old Stone Temple Pilots flow to it as well 'Deathhorse' is really good and for whatever reason reminds me of Katatonia around the 'Tonight's Decision' era. 'Bleed' is quite passable too with a great deal of emotion and heart poured into it. I generally find that the whole album plays out quite nicely and flows well with none of the songs really being bad, but not everyone stands out strongly. Perhaps its just because its not the sort of hard rock I usually go for, or its just a sign that I immerse myself in too much heavy metal. Who knows.

In the end, 'No Hay Banda' is a decent record, and perhaps a choice to consider if you need a break from the heavier stuff, though I'm sort of saying that based off the fact that I paid for the album with pocket change and the hope that whomever is reading this has some appreciation for 90's alternative rock.