If you’ve had an eye and an ear on the more recent fruits of the ever-thriving Dutch black metal scene, Freja’s debut album Tides and the fact that the band defy conventional genre categories won’t take you by surprise. But even if you’re not familiar with the scene in the Netherlands, a look at the album cover for Tides should tell you that this is black metal that tries to go off the monochromatic beaten paths.
Freja are a duo consisting of C. and W. Named after the Norse goddess in charge of love, fertility, battle, and death, the duo’s music is as versatile as the namesake goddess’ field of influence. This is black metal with portions of light and colour: towers of sound with dense riffs and drumming, but also with subtly shimmering melodies.
The duo discovered their compatibility while working on a project for Roadburn 2019 and have stuck together ever since – musically and romantically. The product of their cooperation so far, their debut album Tides, brings them full circle and will be presented live for the first time to the greater public at the famous Dutch festival’s most recent edition.
The albums six tracks offer atmospheric black metal with “thundering sounds and ethereal atmospheres”. Both C. and W. play guitar and bass, and both also contribute vocals, clean as well as harsh. The result is a wide range in compositional design, leaving the impression that the band consists of more than two people. My personal favourite is track number five, Of Those Stricken by Fate, which is more melancholic and yearning than the other five songs and deviates the farthest from the black metal template.
Another thing worth mentioning here is the band’s lyrical concept which tries to apply the energies from ancient myths as a way to cope with the complex emotions and struggles of modern life.
Imagined as calamitous but also cleansing and cathartic, Tides provides the listener with both release and solace and should appeal to fans of atmospheric black metal and post black metal interested in new concepts and approaches.
(7/10 Slavica)
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