noise

"noise" is anything but.

This young trio of gentlemen from Iceland is capable of being a world contender in the rock music scene. Innovative yet somehow familiar and very, very good.

The arrangements, instrumentation and vocals bring to mind Velvet Revolver, 3 Days Grace and Disturbed, but it's a fleeting image; noise is refreshingly more intellectual, more stimulating. Every bit as dark and driving as those giants of modern metal while being more introspective and offering solutions rather than just assigning blame.

The writing is nothing short of brilliant. Using short phrases that speak volumes as a whole and being slightly cryptic at times while the intent of those words are crystal clear to anyone who's lived outside a shoe box.

I can't stop playing their debut album, "wicked" and I hope a second album will shortly follow. noise has impressed me to a level of excitement few bands before them have been able. noise now has at least one huge fan in the U.S.

- Jef Peace, PeaceWork Music Net

www.peaceworkmusic.net - PeaceWork Music

Iceland Airwaves @Gaukurinn 2006:

noise took the stage with greasy hair & grungy aspirations in tow. Though unapologetically metal at heart, the noise boys clearly have room for some garagey punk too.

Singer-guitarist Einar Vilberg possesses a classic, god-given yowl that alternates between nu-metal tones & Mudhoney holler. In the Detroit-v.s-Seattle battle for their hearts, Seattle wins by a nose. And noise never let the crowd´s attention wander: the bass rattled Gaukurinn´s floor, and Vilberg ended the set with a siren emanating from a bullhorn. That´s rock ´n roll!

-Josh Modell - Airwaves Grapevine 2006.

Iceland Airwaves @ Gaukurinn 2006: noise have been linked to the grunge-scene for a long time & have been compared to bands like Soundgarden, Nirvana & Alice in Chains. A kind of emotional, angst-filled rock & roll.
Frontman´s Einar Vilberg´s vocals were outstanding & the band´s whole performance was outstanding.

Thormodur Dagsson - Morgunbladid (the Icelandic daily newspaper) - Airwaves Grapevine 2006

noise: A bunch of t-shirt-sporting kids dropping jagged supercharged riffs & decently catchy hard-rock barnburners. Overall the band´s sound was alternately oppressive & sprightly: The skinny, black-haired singer howled his pain with enough angst for several teenage diaries, but the band´s songs zipped along, reserving a few stray bars for some hair-metal solos.

-Christian Hoard
Rolling Stone - The Reykjavik Grapevine - Reykjavik Grapevine / Rolling Stone

Icelandic noise are stormers – they don’t play to a crowd, they shout and scream and beg and plead to be heard. And damnit, they are heard. Fierce, punchy tracks with equal amounts of gusto and soul; Noise are the moody, sleazy lovechild of Alice in Chains and Buckcherry. They have passion and power and a fantastic front man that exudes charm and fervor onstage.

There is something intensely likable about these guys too. Their appeal could be mainstream and could reach every spectrum of rock fan. The people in Doncaster see it, Bitchin’ Rock see it, I see it. Why isn’t this band signed already? What more do they have to do?

I can’t answer that. But noise prove the point that there more to Iceland that volcanoes and Björk. Certainly the band with most untapped potential. Second album Wicked is available for purchase on the band's Myspace now, give it a listen.

Review by: Kate Stulberg
http://musicxtra.net/bands/noise/1108_review.php - musicxtra.net

The second album by Icelandic rockers Noise was released in 2006 under the title of Wicked and sees the band moving away from the direct and obvious influences of the likes of Nirvana and finding their own sound as they craft stronger and more original songs. More subtle influences such as Soundgarden or Stone Temple Pilots seem more applicable as Noise develop their songs from standard grunge to more thought out compositions.

Frontman Vilberg uses his voice more intelligently, the brash rawness that was present on the debut album Pretty Ugly replaced with more cleverly worked melodies that show his range and talent whilst still sounding quite pained sometimes. Hit & Run still shows off his more raw vocals though, and is perhaps my favourite on the album; there’s just something almost desperate about the chorus that makes your heart jump.

Tracks like Quiet show a slower more seductive and moodier side to Noise, a throbbing slow tempo that sucks you in. Fathead is heavier and a more progressive sound, not dissimilar to the heavyweights of the late 70s, but given a distinctive modern feel with Vilberg’s soaring vocals. The final track, So Long, is a dreamy almost acoustic number, with harmonised vocals, and an almost Spanish guitar, showing a whole different side to a constantly evolving Noise.

Wicked sees a more polished sound and production, and, understandably, a lot more maturity than on their debut album. But it’s achieved without losing the edge and inexplicable darkness that Noise carry around them like an invisible shroud. - http://www.musicxtra.net

Noise ?
a well-established band containing members of the sadly now defunct Sign
and likened to Velvet Revolver, came up around mid-evening, just as the notoriously late-coming crowd began to trickle into town and take stock of the dozen or so shows it's possible to see at one time. They provided a more classic metal sound, grinding their way through a set of 80s old-school rock that was tighter than a puffin's backside and just as juicy (roasted in brenninvin -- a real evil brew of a spirit -- is best). Their drummer is called The Eagle and he, along with the rest of the band, showed that you can show off with your instruments without being dressed in spandex or living in decades past.

-Ben H. Murray
http://www.itsatrap.com/?n=32040 - Its A Trap