Nok Novum is an instrumental band that has developed a textured sound that cleverly fuses 70’s progressive rock, jazz-fusion, and heavy metal, creating a sound that is chaotic yet mesmerizing. All of the production choices were purely instinctual on Nok Novum’s new song, “Funky Shins.” The great thing about this band is that there are no rules. Each member has so many musical influences that they have a bottomless pit of inspiration to throw at the canvas, which is how this became the first Nok Novum song to use acoustic piano.
“The song title comes from a Siri autocorrect during a group chat where we were describing a particular section as ‘Funky Shit’ but was corrected to ‘Funky Shins.’ Felt appropriate,” says guitarist Scott Giffin.
Formed in early 2008, Nok Novum is an instrumental band from Canada. The band was originally conceived as a two-piece, with guitarist Grant Cooper and drummer Brady Mason with the addition of Scott Giffin on guitar and Cam Dougall on bass in 2013. Since 2016 the band has taken a step back to focus on their individual careers, raise families, as well as taking time to patiently record their highly anticipated sophomore release – Nok Novum II. This new album has recently been completed and is set to be released within 2024.
From powerful technical metal to jazz-fusion, [Nok Novum] blend it all together to create something that takes you from brutal metal to skillfully-performed jazz in the blink of an eye. If you’re looking for something that is easy to digest and comes straight out of the modern metal production line, there are plenty of bands elsewhere who can provide that fix; however, if you’re looking for a band who create powerful, thought-provoking, challenging heavy music that doesn’t sit within any boundaries or pigeonholes… then Nok Novum are certainly worth a punt. – Graham Finney // V13