We first heard from AGBAT in July of last year, upon the release of their single “Hopeless.” That hard-driving Industrial Metal track introduced readers of The Static Dive to the multi-instrumentalist songwriting and production duo; Sondre Skar Selsvik and Christopher Erik Knight. The two formed the band as a studio project for Lazy S’ Records in Øystese Norway. The group’s moniker is an acronym for ‘All Good Bandnames Are Taken.’
AGBAT’s sound is a wild mix of Hard Rock and Electronic musical genres. The project launched in January of 2020 with the single ‘E.L.E.‘ The track opens as a slow Grunge rocker. As it progresses the band gradually introduces some of the complex rhythms and compositional structure of their later releases. By the verse the song builds to a powerful Prog Rock ballad.
Lyrically, AGBAT infuses their heavy music with uplifting, motivational and sometimes loving lyrics. Such is the case on their sophomore single, “Unconditional Love.” Further expanding their already broad palette of musical style, the song mixes swirling melodic Synth-Pop arpeggios with a hard Metal crunch as the singer delivers a heartfelt tale of devotion.
“Silver Spoons” was the first single of 2021 from AGBAT. Here the band continues to experiment with a wide range of musical genres. The song mixes its Melodic Metal drive with dance grooves, ambient moods and nice Rush-style break in the bridge. On its successor “Please Ask,” they dose their staccato rhythm and hard riffs with a bit of R&B soul and Emo feels.
In August AGBAT released “Defined.” After some insanely fast kick-drum Speed Metal, the track drops to a big Progressive Rock verse. The band alternates between those two hard rocking vibes before taking a 180 degree turn in the bridge for a groovy conga-drum Caribbean groove. The interlude does not last long however and the band closes the song with more double-kick acrobatics and some smoking guitar shredding.
“Find Out” is the latest single from AGBAT, released worldwide to all major streaming services on November 19, 2021. The song opens with a beautiful classical Spanish guitar piece. An electric guitar doubles it in the distance before the entire band joins in with a cool Psychedelic Metal intro. By the :50 mark the song morphs into a wildly syncopated Groove Metal rocker. The song packs a hard punch and features some of the most complex and sophisticated arrangements from the band so far.
Check out “Find Out” below. You can also hear the song on the Deep Indie Dive playlist. Follow AGBAT on your favorite streaming services, and click the links below to connect with the band. Get on their socials and stay in the loop on this exciting and ever-evolving project.