Foreword
Past Obscure
"November"
"Den Tredje Høst" (The Third Harvest)
Reviews

Foreword

Grøde arose in the spring 1996.
Five persons wanted to play music engraved with melancholy. Melodic but still hard.
Beauty would meet brutality, and with our own form of expression communicate thoughts and emotions.

For Grøde, life is an unwritten chapter. A tale where incidents happen based on every choice one will have to make.br> A tale which unfolds in both bright and dark pages of Existence.
Grøde seeks to paint this in its music.

The ongoing story about Grøde is further documented on this page.
Some texts are gathered from parchment on which the Tooth of Time and the Will of the Water have had their way. Therefore, many paragraphs could not be salvaged...
More recent texts is more complete. Still, some things are not written by quill and much is layed in the Grave of Forgetfullness.

And of the Future little is said...

the Scribe

Grøde anno 2004
Ben J. Amin Mikael Bent-Olav Benjamin Peter

Fotograf: Terje Nygaard

Past Obscure

The mist clears away. In the back light of the horizon one can glimpse the contours of noble mountains.
The moon glows in a clear sky.
Before you, somewhere, lies a path you will have to follow...

And the path is twisted, winding its way through narrow dales, alongside abrupt mountainsides.
At the end is your goal.

9th of April 1999 Grøde made their first demo, "Måne" (Moon).
Six songs were recorded using a digital mixer and an 8-track Tascam recorder.

the Scribe, 13.01.2001
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November

The year is 1999. Winter is here.
The weekend is over, and we leave Gordons back yard, tiered.
After three days of work, a demo of four compositions is complete. Well produced by Thomas Sørlie.

the Scribe, 05.12.2001
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Den Tredje Høst

More about the release...

the candles burn
luring you
glows in the dark
guiding you

The harvesting started at the 18th of November 2000. For two days we were out in the fields
gathering the crop of nearly one year's work.
Accompanied by the highly skilled sound engineer, Børge Finstad.
We knew that only a lesser amount of the material would be brought in this first time, five songs altogether.
Still, the fields are not desolate. The ripening will continue and a new Harvest will come.

The first signs of Winter arriving can be seen outside Toproom Studio. Grey and cold makes Outside no place to linger.
But inside the walls there is a living hearth.
Drum and bass is completed within 14 intense hours.

Tuesdag 29th of November work on the five songs continue.
The display frame is filled with guitars, images painted in distinct tones.

The 1st of December we're back in Toproom, making the final touch.
Clear vocals come to life beneath a star lit sky,
and quiet rain of solo guitar nourish each song.

The horn sounded toward the four directions of the wind,
and they fell silent when the stones called...

New times bring new opportunities. Five songs are ready.
When February comes we will continue with six additional songs. The harvesting may be finished already in March...

But more days than expected went before the whole crop was brought in. Not until May
did time allow us to complete the work. The last songs were now in place and with good help of the guys at Lydmuren the finish and mastering were done.

At last (almost) all our songs were now collected in a full release. Those songs previously recorded in demo versions
had now a sound picture and wrapping as deserved.
We hope that many of the People of Future will enjoy "Den Tredje Høst" as much as we do.

the Scribe, 11.06.2001
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Reviews

Here I have gathered some of the many good words that have been said about Grøde.
Especially we want to thank Scream Magazine and Seigmen.org for their acknowledgement.

POWERMETAL.de reviews "Den Tredje Høst"

Reviewed in POWERMETAL.de 25th January 2006.

To review the first album of Grøde is not pleasant. But that has nothing to do with the quality, nor with the skills of the musicians. Both is over average. It is rather the unusual mixture which makes this CD both extraordinary and well known. The feeling switches often from "absolutely innovative" to "somehow already heard". "Den tredje høst" follows an own line, and that with a certainty you can feel any second. The term "Gothic Rock" doesn't -on the one hand- suffice at all to describe the music, yet on the other hand, it fits perfectly. The opener "Preludium" already spreads some sense of melancholy, which exists throughout the whole album and gives it a deep touch. Singer Mikael presents the exclusively Norwegian lyrics skilled in varied ways. It may sound unfamiliar at the beginning (since we are used to hear Norwegian screamed or growled), but that language works clean as well. And so some passages sound very emotional and touch you, although you don't understand a word. The musicians take their time, the melodies are often celebrated and the instruments are now and then turned down. Take for example "Nedtegnet fra ensom Virkelighet". Occasionally, the tempo is increased, which causes a nice alternation, however Grøde sounds never aggressiv or obtrusive. There is no complete hard song, the brake is put, when a too positive mood seems to come up. This is done very cleverly and replaces the obligatory keyboards totally. That doesn't mean, that you get only soft music, they don't keep the pressure back, like in "Menneske", but the atmospheric parts outweigh by far. That's due to the sensitive guitars and the already mentioned vocals. For a debut, this album is really well done, and new material is in sight. If you are open for new music from the North, you should check this one out.
- Simon Lang POWERMETAL.de

Seigmen.org's Band of the moment"

...Without regard to genre, they definately have a style of their own as well. Especially the vocalist has an impressive ability to express emotions with his substantial voice. But the most original about them is - in my opinion - their use of shofar and conch. Instruments like these make the music special and interesting. And powerful it sounds...
- buman Read more

Scream about "Den Tredje Høst"

4 of 6 points. Reviewed in Scream Magazine # 60 (august/september 2001)

The Østfold band Grøde played at the "Kloppstock" festival this summer. Unfortunatelly I could not attend. The local newspaper reporter was not affected by the musical expression of Grøde. It is a bit different with this reviewer. Grøde have definitively a musical identity and credibility. In many ways will the blessed Seigmen still be sort of a point of reference for the music of Grøde. The band plays their sombre pompous music accompanied by Norwegian lyrics, and listening to Grøde is truly a challenge. There is depth in the compositions, and it doesnt fit the ear immediately. Still, an exciting musical expression is communicated in a well produced and well played manner. In addition it sounds heavy.
If anyone is in doubt, doubt not anymore.
Grøde plays gothic metal, and they do it well.
- AJ. Blisten

Tartarean Desire about "Den Tredje Høst"

6.5 of 10 points. Reviewed in Tartarean Desire (april 2002)

It doesn't really show these days but the truth is that there is more to Norwegian music today than Dimmu Borgir and Immortal. When digging your way through the music scene you may come across this somewhat weird band called Grøde. When looking at the song titles you may guess that this is yet another black metal band but I can tell you for sure that these guys don't play black metal at all! Instead they play a mix of melancholic pop music and gothic rock with some metal touches. Since they have a very decent vocalist they actually sound pretty good. The lyrics are seemingly sorrowful and depressive in their nature which means that fans of gothic rock should not be disappointed (well, I guess most of you don't understand Norwegian but still...). The most important asset Grøde is in possession of at the moment is without a doubt the vocalist and I think they should try to develop the vocals further in the future, perhaps by varying more between different vocal styles. I would also like to see stronger song structures than the current ones. This is an interesting band and I wish them all the best for the future.
- Vincent Eldefors

Scream about "November"

4 of 6 points. Reviewed in Scream Magazine #52

This is a new Norwegian band. And they do not play black metal!
They sound more like Seigmen and they have many interesting and nice musical ideas in their songs.
Call it atmospheric goth, if you like. It's melancholic and melodic with good melody themes and variations in all four songs. Very promising.

- AJ. Blisten

Baldersbaalet about "November"

4 of 5 points. Reviewed in Baldersbålet

This must be one of the best demos I've heard in a long time. Grøde is a Norwegian band, from Askim to be exact and on this their second demo they present a wonderfull mix of Doom, Goth, Folk and Progg with lyrics in Norwegian. Similarities could be drawn to In the Woods debut album "Heart of Ages". When I first got in contact with this band I didn't know what to expect, first of all I reacted to the name "Grøde"? Could this be Norwegian for "Harvest"? Wellwell. But hell what a surprise I got when I first played up this demo.
"November" contains four songs of which all is very good, but I like "Endring" the most. If this band ain't getting a contract soon I will have to start up a label. If you want to listen to Grøde get over to www.mp3.com/grode and download them all.
- Pierre B. Jonsson

the Scribe, 27.05.2001
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