Unrelenting, punishing black metal from these majestic Norwegians and it comes in the form of their latest release, ‘Drep Alle Guder’.

Track one, and title track, opens with a simple command, “The Beast Must Die” and then all hell breaks loose. The vocals are dominant and maniacal in their portrayal, the fret boards delight us with solos and melodies intertwining and the drums from Brye are pounding and grand, creating a tsunami of wave after wave which will swathe over you with an absolutely crushing carcass.

The album is made up of eight parts, each with a similarity yet all decreeing an individuality which demands to be respected. The riffs are crushing and authoritarian, the strings fusing with each other to produce one body of epic proportions. The vocals are mastered to perfection, announcing themselves with power and malevolence, a raw beauty which is constructed and delivered with passion and pride.

The album is a short sharp shock, eight tracks clocking in at a total of just over thirty eight minutes, and whilst the body of the release may be brief and compact in nature, this does not mean it is any less relenting. The album hits you straight between the eyes and does not give you any respite from start to finish.

There are several highlights on the album, ‘The Life Destroyer’ is my personal favourite. There is an undertone of clinical decadence while the main presenting factor is barbaric, vindictive and malicious visceral black metal. The vocals are primal and brutal, spat out with sadistic intent, each word seemingly more raucous than its predecessor.

The other stand out track for me has to be ‘Den Forhatte’. The intro is marching in style, repetitive and rhythmic before the main body of the track kicks in. The track is toned down in terms of speed, slightly doomier and depressive than its album siblings yet this doesn’t detract from the vindictive and intense hostility that pours from the speakers. The track appears more measured and calculated, pure savagery and carnage throughout.

This is an absolute stormer of a black metal release and one that has several differing facets rather than keeping itself one dimensional. An accomplishment in its own right and one that I would hugely recommend adding to your collection tomorrow

(8/10 Phil Pountney)

https://www.facebook.com/Djevelkult

https://soulsellerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/drep-alle-guder