If you are familiar with this multinational band then you will also be familiar with the pedigree within its ranks, comprising of Shatraug (Sargeist), Doedsadmiral (Nordjevel), BST (The Order Of Apollyon) and ex-Tsjuder drummer and current member of Beaten To Death, AntiChristian, ensuring this band spans the breadth of Europe from France to Norway to Finland. The bands fine debut ‘Satan Ov Suns’ was a textbook demonstration of glacial, frostbitten black metal, pernicious in nature, savage in approach with a sound that breathes ice into your veins. The new opus is a little in contrast to that debut, being much denser, more barbaric in its riffing yet retaining their fundamental embittered onslaught as the album opens with the excellent title track.
With blast beats aplenty and a grimy, filth riddled riffing style the hideous vocals have increased their intensity, baring feral teeth and discharging corrosive venom on those who dare to experience the title track opener and album overall. Riff changes teem throughout, much like the debut, but here we get incendiary tempo dynamics as fans of any of the band members day job bands will wholly grasp it by the satanic horns. One cool riff after another are deluged into the album as ‘As The Rivers Bleed Their Blessings’ proves, the marching like beat enhancing the catchiness, manifesting an occult, demonic and atmospheric posture. The drumming really focuses the song here, utilising the double kick to amplify the melodious nature but ensuring the gravity and opacity is always maintained.
There are some Carpathian Forest like black ‘n’ roll characteristics to ‘Flagelist’, that grimy groove we all know of that band transposed into a song that festers with malignant hooks and creeping catchiness. Quicker, heavier and outright hostile, ‘Imperials’ continues the album, using that drum work to augment the power this album bares continually, as the shrieking vocals only add to the level of terror. Spanning near to the eight-minute mark, ‘White Finger’ is a little different here, slower, moodier and dripping with ghoulish atmosphere the song has an aura of sadness suffusing through its morose riffing. However, you know there are going to be changes, you can feel it through the playing, building, deepening and intensifying as the brief tempo increases are ultra-catchy.
‘Carrier Of Heads’ has a chaotic persona, sinister in atmosphere too as it unleashes gradations of power and links in nicely with ‘The Salt Marsh’. Preferring to keep the pacing down the song has a crusty riff, catchy as hell as the song slowly evolves to fully unveil the blasting incursion before the album concludes with the epic ‘Poisonous Tides’. At seven minutes plus the song shows a more experimental angle but always retaining the bands maligned delivery as the creepy start has a haunting ominous ethos, as the slower pacing allows the song to enshroud with its malevolence. I particularly enjoyed its repetitive style, hypnotic to a degree drilling the riffs in before a cohesive tempo increase accompanied by the exceptional drum work, right before it abruptly halts and drops into an ambient phase that takes the song to its conclusion. The physical releases of this album are going to include a cover of Piledriver’s ‘Piledriver’ tune as a bonus, something I would definitely like to hear.
Doedsvangr have the pedigree, the song writing chops and above all blistering tracks to ensure this black metal album is an obsidian feast of very high quality.
(8.5/10 Martin Harris)
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