Band:	Norris
Album:	The Great White North
Style:	Punk, Hardcore, Sludge metal
Release date:	March 22, 2011
A review by:	Doc G.

01. The Great White North
02. De-Evolution of Music
03. Economics Without Ecology
04. The Dregs Download
05. Peasant
06. Jesus Heist
07. Food For Thought
08. Playing The Role
09. Chump Change

Do you ever get violent diarrhoea while on public transit? Yeah, no, neither do I. If I did however, I picture Norris would make a pretty fitting sound track for that initial awkward moment. Now before you start up with "it sounds like shit" jokes, let's clarify something; this is not a bad album.

Norris play this kind of spastic sludged-out hardcore. It's raw, heavy hitting, and frankly a little bit difficult to follow a lot of the times. I guess one could say it's a crossroads between Baroness, or old High On Fire, intersecting with a more organic sounding Between The Buried And Me. The interesting mix of the song writing vs the production is definitely what gives Norris their unique sound. The songs are jagged, full of sharp stops and turns thrown in between the grooves, yet the production is more of an earthy, dull heaviness.

Where Norris' problem lies is how completely alienating this music is throughout a majority of it's play time. Yes, it is incredibly unpredictable, but that aspect is abused to no end. Normally, it's easy just to cast off these bands that obsess over technical prowess as shit. Norris, however, continually prove capable of writing some rather enjoyable riffs, but for some odd reason will not let you listen to them for more than a few seconds. It's a bit like watching a movie from the Saw series; those surprise twists and turns would definitely hold a lot more power if they weren't a constant. The Great White North might be something worth listening to for those who enjoy a healthy dose of chaos in your music, here's to hoping Norris will use this chaos more purposefully with any future releases.