Spirits of the Dead – a psychedelic-stoner-folk-rock with one foot in the electric magic of the seventies and the other in the modern electric rock sound of 2012. They were raised by high mountains and deep fjords of the west-coast of Norway. Their debut album is a thrilling experience from start to end with excellent sound, great diversity of songs and lovely cover art by Martin Kvamme/Unit Delta Plus.

Spirits of the Dead consists of Ole Øvstedal (guitars), Ragnar Vikse (vocals), Geir Thorstensen (drums) and Deadly Nightshade (bass,keyboards) The band was formed by Ole and Ragnar early 2007, and later joined by Geir and Deadly Nightshade.

Trying to capture the sound and feeling they wanted their band to be, and taking advantage of the musical force that were building betweenthem, they used six intensive days and nights in the Crystal Canyon Studios to record their 6 track demo. From this demo they were touring Scandinavia (without a single release), got great feedback from all over Europe and were picked out to play NXNE (North by North Eastfestival) in Toronto, Canada.

They were now ready to go into the studio to record the debut album. The bars were raised higher. It was all recorded on analogue equipment and most of it live in studio (all of the rhythm section was recorded live). Their debut album was recorded and mixed in Grand Sport Studios by Christian Engfeldt and mastered in Sterling Sound New York by George Marino (of Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix fame)

With a foot planted in beloved magic of the sixties and seventies and adding a portion of their longing souls for the fjords and mountains back home on the west coast of Norway, the nearest comparison musically would be something like psychedelic-stoner-folk-rock. (It’s impossible to fully make an impression of the music with only words, so the best would be to check out their music on the cd or myspace)

Underdogs or overlords? No Matter – Spirits of the Dead will soon enough start haunting your shores, cos the history of this band has barely started.

Magnificent psychedelia. From melodic and delicate tender to really hard and frenetic; fearless Spirits of the Dead is grand and fascinating - Bergens Tidene (N)
Tasteful psychedelia. This debut album is the best I have heard of rock this year – Trønderavisa (N)
Excellent! The best debut album I’ve heard in a long time. – FHM (N)
Spirits of the Dead pounds away, in between their psychedelia and arena rock- references. – Haugesunds Avis (N)
Grand psychedelic stoner rock – Groove (N)
Spirits of the Dead shows that Norway has bands that got great skills and brilliance. - Natt og Dag (N)
Behind a sophisticated silver-embossed cover hides another Scandinavian retro-trip to the golden age of hand-made guitar music.- Musikreviews(DE)
Spirits of the Dead have come here with a very hot iron from the cold Norway swept around the corner!!! - Rocktimes (DE)
We’re bewitched since the first notes. The fiery SPIRITS OF THE DEAD’s psychedelic rock sweep aside all that lay in its passage - Progressive-Area (FR)
SOTD is a MUST hear for all Classic Rock and stoner rock fans, as well as stoners - Crash and Burn (US)
They're not just a cheap knockoff, though. They are the real deal. So far, their album, Spirits of the Dead, is an absolute must buy – Chronicles of a Soda (US)
Listen to the muscular rhythm section on that boogie-woogie bass riff-not a single extra note out of place, nor a poorly placed cymbal hit to be found. - Itsatrap (US)
Everything sounds and looks perfect in this release. - Metal Perspective (GR)
One of the coolest bands in that direction, is Spirits of the Dead - Amboss-Mag (DE)
Never was a repeat button as valuable as it was today – Eclipsed (DE)
The band storms up with a great rumbling psychedelic album – Mestrock (SE)
They pull out some seriously sexy early Zep-esque strokes and some succulently drilled smoked till just right hazy transcendentalist slow burn freak outs – Losing today(US)
Spirits of the Dead have created with their impressive debut, the lively sound of 40 years ago with the musical and technical developments of recent years to unite - The Pit (DE)
I'd say start off with “White Lady/Black Rave,” “Fields of Gold,” and “SOTD,” and if you like what you hear, go indulge in the rest. I sure did. Recommended - Stonerrock.com (US)