Back in January 2021 a debut album came out that slapped the sweaty corpse paint off my mush. “Godslastering Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry” impressed me so much it stayed in my head and ears throughout that year to top my fave albums list. The E.P. that followed -”Eternal Fanfare” the following year filled me with as much grim glee and whet my whistle for this sophomore effort.
So how does “Verse in Oath” compare? Has my interest and passion for this project waned like a forlorn moon?
That is a daft question as I rubbed my calloused hands with glee when I heard about Verses in Oath although I felt a little deflated upon pressing play the first time.
Whilst Hulder’s debut exploded with the tumultuous “Upon Frigid Winds” this collection limps in with “An Elegy” – one minute forty seconds of a bird squawking and a wind building up. It feels completely out of context as it stops abruptly and the following track “An Offering” stats again from silence making this a very disjointed and pointless opening. A very strange decision that I cannot imagine working even on vinyl with the continuous play that is lacking on my MP3 review tracks.
Cutting that intro off like a crusty wart the album proper begins with “Boughs Ablaze” – this is the good stuff. Rampant riffs soaked in cold earthy atmosphere, acoustic passages and eerie orchestration and grim choirs. Yup this is Hulder doing her thing.
“Hearken the End” has a rapid heartbeat juxtaposed with a haunting melody that paints an unsettling aural picture which is more Henry James than Dennis Wheatley. The track is wispy and haunting which is quite a feat considering the harsh vocals. Indeed, these just seem to give more room for the music to list and float like a shroud dropped off a desolate cliff. See – it has got me all poet like! The title track, up next is more vicious in nature but still backed by Gothic keys which bring to mind the old days of Dimmu Borgir and pre Midian CoF.
Following this is an interval of sorts – two short tracks that seek to build on the textures and atmospheres of the album. The first, “Lamentation” is kitschy creepy. A gramophone record glitches and oscillates as other noises appear to want to break through from the other side then “An Offering” follows with haunting lilting voices over a cinematic backing building and building like a grim ghoul advancing in the dark, and then a hard stop before the next track “Cast of the Well of Remembrance”. The spell is broken. What has happened here? Why this strange edit and destruction of continuity? It is robbing this album of its flow. So frustrating.
The track itself is blistering and bristles with acid bile and long nails riding on a mid-paced riff that erupts into blasting blackness with single “Vessel of Suffering” continuing in a similar vein. The vocals in the latter wash in and out and remind me of “Under a sign.” era Bathory with their echoes from a cave quality. Hulder really paint a great picture with each track which is why the stilted placement of instrumentals frustrates me so much. Ahti Kortelainen mixed and mastered the album so only they can answer what the plan was (unless this is just my mp3 bundle which is so disjointed). “Vessel of Suffering” flies by like any good jingle should and gives way to the spiky “Enchanted Steel” which opens with a wall of distorted guitars before descending into delicious chaos. Hulder always know when to apply the brakes to wring out the tension when things get too hectic. The balance of keys and razor sharp guitar lines sits precariously atop a swaying and mighty main riff.
“Veil of Penitence“ brings it all home with a straight rock beat and a rather garbled production – I dig it though. It has a strangely punky edge – like a 70s New Yawk sound filtered through European frost.
Hulder have shown that they are not a flash in the pan. They have the chops and power to take on all comers in the modern world of Black Metal. Those at Fortress festival later in the year are in for a treat. Now if I can just get over those strange production cuts. (mumble mumble heads off to sulk in a dark forest).
(8/10 Matt Mason)
Leave a Reply