It looks like the black metal seed has fallen on particularly fertile ground in and around the Netherlands. New sprouts keep appearing alongside established plants. And some of the new sprouts are growing nicely and bearing fruit, developing their own, intriguingly weird shape along the way.
No, I have not suddenly developed an interest in botany. Doodswens (Engl.: death wish) are a new black metal band from Eindhoven in the Netherlands, home to many fine black metal bands. Svart Records is releasing their debut album Lichtvrees (Engl.: fear of light) which represents another move in a productive direction for the band that just completed a tour with Marduk and Valkyria. Lichtvrees is not the band’s first release, however. Established in 2017, Doodswens started their career with a rather successful demo in 2019 which landed them an invitation to Roadburn.
Doodswens are Fraukje van Burg (vocals and guitar) and Inge van der Zon (drums). The black metal the two women play is of a raw nature and emphasises atmosphere. Their music follows the example of the genre-defining 1990s and is further characterized by a duality of restless energy and inert gloom.
Lichtvrees kicks off with In Mijn Bloed (In My Blood), a fast number, pulsing with agitated vigour. The sound of frantic drums and guitar, perfected with raspy vocals, will no doubt be met with appreciation by many a black metal fan. The exquisite fury, however, takes a completely unexpected and abrupt break already with the second track, Onplaatsbaren. We hear an older man ranting in Dutch. What he’s ranting about is impossible to say if you don’t know Dutch. I did make out one line that is repeated numerous times: Alles is slecht. Everything is bad. The scene also features various outside noises – nature sounds and sounds of human activity.
Track number three Zwarte Staar starts with another field recording where someone is walking on dry grass. The walking is accompanied solely by guitar in the beginning, but the track slowly morphs into a post metal and shoegaze soundscape. For the finish, the black metal onslaught returns, announced by an especially visceral scream. Eindzicht delves in doom and gloom which is not that much to my liking, but Ijsheiligen (ice saints) convinces again with an intro of theatrical spoken word followed by an excellent combination of fast drumming and tremolo picking. Together with In Mijn Bloed this is my favourite track of the album. The remaining songs are a mixture of doomy shoegaze interlaced with faster passages that follow the black metal template. The album closes with Lichtvrees II, a short number, where sounds of the outside world are overlaid with music.
For a black metal fan, Lichtvrees are 36 minutes enjoyably spent and a reason to look forward to more fruit grown from the black metal seed on fecund Dutch soil.
(7/10 Slavica)
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