Maribel is a quartet from Oslo, Norway, and these guys have what it takes to be the next big thing from the north. Their sound can be put in the same category as the noise and shoegaze-oriented bands from the 80s, like My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive and Spacemen 3, and it is obvious that the four members in the band have studied their musical references closely. They paint out large canvases of sound, carpets of reverberated guitar-drones, energetic and minimalistic drumpatterns repeat and repeat, some dreamy vocals can be heard far in the background. It’s noisy, dark and chaotic, and at the same time it feels dreamy, warm, comfortable and meditative.

Maribel have a lot in common with bigger Norwegian names like Serena Maneesh, The Lionheart Brothers and in some ways also 120 days. The link to Serena is obvious; they paint with the same pallette, – their musical roots are the same, and Emil Nikolaisen has also worked with the band on their demo-recordings. The track we feature as a download exclusively here today, “Deflowers”, was mixed by Emil of Serena Maneesh. Another thing the band has in common with the bands mentioned, is that they have been “buzzed” about in the Norwegian underground for some time now. In my crystal ball, this band will be the next Norwegian export, and you will probably see them on some American or European concert scene in 2008. My guess.

What’s more like facts are that the band will play at the Øya-festival in Oslo on August 11. There will probably be a mini-tour in the western parts of Norway this autumn, and then the band will go into the studio again and record their debut-EP.
…and did I mention that they have a standing drummer? I like that…

Ok, enough facts, let’s listen to some music:

Maribel – Deflowers (this track is exclusive to Eardrums)

Maribel – Bleed a Kiss (stream, – opens a new window with an audio player from by:larm)

Maribel – Flesh and Blood (stream – opens a new window with an audio player from by:larm)