Darkenhöld, although relative newcomers to the scene are no slouches when it comes to releasing material, already having 3 split albums and now two full length releases under their belts since their inception in 2008, bringing us to present day and their 2nd album ‘Echoes from the Stone Keeper’. Hailing from France, these guys are a refreshing change from the French bands that either a) want to be Deathspell Omega’s bastard offspring, or b) want to ape the usual Les Légions Noires lo-fi fare. They call their style medieval black metal, and I can’t fault their nomenclature – as their music brings to mind long abandoned ancient castles inhabited by evil spirits, ghostly haunted forests forever coated in a foreboding thick fog, and other more insalubrious antediluvian phantasmagoria. This might sound clichéd on face value, but the music more than makes up for any well-worn black metal principles, adding a spectral new gloom to the canon.
The album kicks off with an eerie keyboard piece before the first track proper kicks in. Excellent melodic riffwork is abundant throughout, weaving labyrinthine musical tapestries with sharp ideas put into arrangements to set themselves apart from the boredom inducing blast-beaters. On the musical side there are similarities with the slower side of early Emperor, and perhaps even early Enslaved in their sound, particularly because the keyboards are quite so prominent in their overall sonic resonance, and are constantly put to excellent use. The keyboard undulations add that little extra to their sound, and give a really epic and unnerving edge to the album as a whole. In fact, you could even go as far as saying there’s even nods to former Emperor live-man Charmand Grimloch’s solo project Tartaros, but I’d say these guys have more atmosphere encapsulated within their sound than something like Tartaros, who always seemed to concentrate his efforts more on the side of the grandiose symphonic arrangements rather than to enhance the chilling moods or evil tones in my opinion. Darkenhöld aren’t just a one trick pony though, as they occasionally add in ancient sounding folky sections to their sound, which brings to mind the early work of Ulver, before swiftly sweeping back into an Ihsahn inspired reverie, and continuing to hold your attention and imagination for the albums’ entire runtime.
This is an album which is rich in sound, eccentric charm and personality. Not only is there more than enough here musically to keep the grim and true crowd happy in my opinion, but this should also aid to re-awaken the night spirits of the authentic melodic black metallers of yore. So if you’re looking for something which doesn’t reek of plastic commercialism and has an excellent, consistently chilling vibe throughout – this could well be your thing. Now I just need to track down their debut album for more of the same!
(8/10 Lars Christiansen)
https://www.facebook.com/Darkenhold
Leave a Reply