It was five long years ago since we last had the chance to hail pessimism from this black metal clan and boy was it good! Getting the chance to see them play at Party San Open Air was a real coup too and it was a bit of a deranged show which saw frontman Niklas Kvarforth even upstaging his performance with his own band the next day. Of course old Nik left in 2011 to concentrate on said band Shining and his path with them is well trodden and documented, this led “the so called” Den Saakaldte having to replace their eccentric front man, no easy task at all. Formed by Greek guitarist Sykelig ex of Naer Mataron this was achievable due to ties already formed in the underbelly of the black metal scene as he already had players past and present from the likes of Pantheon I, 1349, Dodheimsgard, Sarkom and Nidingr among others in the band and finally they found their man in the form of Einar “Eldur” Thorberg from Iceland of all places making them all the more multinational in the process. Having spent time in the likes of Curse and Fortid, Eldur already had the necessary credentials and certainly manages to fill the boots of his predecessor in style on ‘Faen I Helvete.’
In fact he enters immediately with a hellacious roar over a barrage of drums on opener ‘Din siste dag’ (You Last Die). Singing in Norwegian obviously is not a problem and he rasps along well and infects with some clean parts too and a reverb ridden death belch. Yep all’s well here and the music drives along with a lot of substance about it too settling into a compulsive groove with grating guitars, bass and plenty of melody within it. It enforces nihilism in any language and the tone behind this is clearly understandable as are bursts of contempt and rage. It probably won’t take much to work out the translation behind ‘Forbanna idioter’ as it is something we are all surrounded by ‘damn fools’ sucking out the air that we breathe. Drummer Tybald really gives it a thundering work out and the sinuous guitar weaves around it all and there’s plenty going on. In fact this is no quick fix of an album and every time I have played it I keep noting more within its heaving mass. Abrasive punk spewed discourse is order of the day as ‘Du selvproklamerte misjonær’ bounces in and fires out jagged barbs of brimstone as this ‘self-proclaimed missionary’ rasps and gurgles from the pulpit. The slow part here sends a real chill down the spine injecting a lot of atmosphere into it before inevitably building and setting itself up for a final flurry of short sharp retribution. Black Rot n Roll pitches us into ‘Endeløst Øde’ and some harmonious clean croons match the slower pace before everything tears off and take things into a fast pitched gallop. A mid-section of doom and gloom is just what you would expect to find in some depressive suicidal black metal but the band have definitely paid their dues and have the credentials to put a bit of that old Shining magic into a song here and there and the track’s called ‘Endlessly Deserted’ so they have to back that up!
With the mix of speeds and styles throughout there is no trouble in fluidly developing some of the songs to a near ten minute mark and keeping the listener on toes wondering what is coming next. This naturally helps to keep the album interesting and durable for plenty of plays and no doubt has made it one that has taken me plenty of spins to get anywhere near reviewing it. It’s full of layers and moods with vocal styles constantly changing to meet them. Last somewhat epic number of the seven on the album Ondskapens nødvendighet (Of Evil Necessity) just enforces this with some flamboyant and theatrical vocals, fast pummelling parts, an incessant drumming clamour, forging out a driving pace and underlying majestic sense of melody tinged in that all important negative air of hopelessness.
With a title controversially screaming out “Fucking In Hell’ Den Saalkadte have delivered a bold statement which I can’t see being found front of shelf in large Norwegian record stores. Not that they probably give a flying one anyway. Sticking two fingers up and delivering a great hefty album in the process it’s great to see them back and as potent as ever. Now all we need are some live dates to back it up….
(8/10 Pete Woods)
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