Oriska is a blackened post-metal collective headquartered in Fargo, ND with members dispersed across California, Montana, North Dakota, and Minnesota. Featuring ex-members of Battlefields (Init Records, Translation Loss), Dispensing of False Halos, Sleeping in Gethsemane (Init Records), In Rapture, and Ceiling Walker, the band was formed in the summer of 2023 with the purpose of reconnecting friends with a passion for music, without regard for genre nor geographical boundaries. Crushing yet delicate, despairing yet hopeful, their sound invokes a sense of strength in the face of impossible circumstances, with influences and reference points that include Envy, Buried Inside, Funeral Diner and Amenra.
UPCOMING VINYL RELEASE ON
MIND OVER MATTER RECORDS
https://www.mindovermatterrecords.com/
SCREENED/SEWED - 2 SONG DEMO CASSETTE | Limited to 100 copies
UPCOMING SHOWS / TOURS:
Fri. August 9th Billings, MT @ Thirsty Street DREYFEST
Sat August 10th Bismark, ND 701HXCREUNION @ Laughing Sun Brewery w/ It Came From The Sea, Fel, Victor Shores etc
Sun. August 11th Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium w/ Victor Shores, Baltic to Boardwalk, It Came From the Sea
Mon. August 12th Minneapolis, MN @ Zhora Darling w/ Victor Shores
PAST SHOWS:
Weds, April 3rd Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium*
Thurs, April 4th Bismarck, ND @ Amvets*+
Fri, April 5th Billings, MT @ Thirsty Street*^
Sat, April 6th Bozeman, MT The Filling Station*^
Sun, April 7th Rapid City, SD @ Creative Arts Building:
*w/ UADA, Abigail Williams, Death Support
+w/ FEL
^w/ Galvanist
Weds, May 1st Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium w/ Infant Island, Senza, and Mother
BOOKING: emulatebooking@gmail.com
CONTACT: FMmusiccollective@gmail.com
All music written and recorded by: Oriska (collective)
Clint Kliewer | Guitar, Vocals
Mathew Ricigliano | Guitar, Vocals
BJ Moore | Guitar
Rusty Steele | Vocals, Keys
JR Anderson | Drums
Brandon Schiwal | Bass
Ethan Ekeland | Bass
Steven Smedshammer | Cello, Steel Guitar
ABOUT ORISKA
There are few forces in the natural world that possess more quiet beauty and deceptive danger than a whiteout blizzard blowing across the open prairie. Frigid and formless, their swirling flurries shift in unpredictable patterns, coalescing and dispersing in accordance with mysterious whims, paradoxically blinding and yet also a sight to behold. Lose yourself in one’s winterous wrath, and you may be forced to follow instinct and determination to find your way out, lest you succumb to the elements. Thriving where such conditions are common requires an iron will.
It’s no coincidence that post-metal collective Oriska would headquarter themselves in the middle of the northern plains, where the brutally cold climate fosters a rare resilience in its residents. With members spread across California, Montana, North Dakota, and Minnesota, the group convenes in their home base of Fargo, ND to channel their creative energies into bleak yet triumphant metallic storms that reflect the severe yet serene duality of their surroundings.
Bleak and blanketed with an ever-present sense of impending doom, Oriska’s brand of blackened riffage and chilled ambiance calls to mind acts such as Buried Inside, Amenra, Funeral Diner, and Envy. It’s a sound commonly called blackgaze by the metal press (in the wake of Deafheaven’s crossover ascendency over the past decade), and even a casual assessment of Oriska’s sound would conclude they’re in similar territory as other black metal-derived acts that lean into that genre’s sonic textures and darkness (if not its nihilistic embrace of total annihilation).
Vocalist Rusty Steele’s pained screams drift over guitars that shift from delicate to devastating above a rhythm section that’s unafraid to break from black metal orthodoxy. There are flashes of tremolo-picked lines that tip their cap toward the Scandinavian scene and passages that worship at the altar of Black Sabbath, all cascading into crescendos that leave the listener feeling as though they’ve gone through a frigid hell and emerged victorious on the other side.
Yet while it’s fair to say that the individual components of Oriska’s should feel familiar to those well versed in heavy music, such convenient categorization can’t fully encompass what Oriska pours into their sound. Owing to the sheer number of collaborators working on this project, there is a breadth of influences from across the heavy music spectrum—doom, post-rock, screamo, melodic hardcore—that manifest themselves at various points of these songs. Rather than following a set path, there’s a spirit of finding where this music is going through intuition.
Where black metal often wallows in nihilism, Oriska shows strength in the face of impossible circumstances. There is something life affirming about this music despite its predilection for rumination on darkness, desolation, and desperation. If you listen closely, there’s an invocation of something resembling hope, and if not hope, an indomitable desire to overcome hardship. It’s a fitting sentiment coming from a band that functions despite geographical barriers and the pressures of daily life, and it emanates through their sound without needing to be spoken explicitly. Abandon fear, embrace struggle. Let Oriska show you the way. -Ben Sailor
