Koldbrann, as many people know, is Norwegian for gangrene, and not, as was suggested to me, the name of a breakfast cereal. You will gather from the name if you don’t know the band already that extreme black metal is their art. I remember seeing them a few years ago supporting Urgehal and supporting a bigger name, possibly Gorgoroth or Taake or somebody of that ilk, and warmed up for the latest anticipated piece of vitriol by listening to the “Moribund” album (2006) from that era.
The lingering tones of the opening section has the cold feel of funeral rites. But quickly the tempo rises, the fire intensifies and Koldbrann are hitting us with fast and furious old style black metal. To follow the opening title track, the imperious and contemptuous “Et Uomtvistelig Falsum” (Undeniably False) is spat at us. The riffs of the songs are merciless and contemptuous. It’s not unmitigated raw firepower. Koldbrann are too experienced for that. Tempos shift and the technique is tight but it’s hard to get away from the idea that this rampant black metal is anything other than what it says on the tin. Unlike “Moribund” the drummer isn’t hammering our brains out, so it’s more subtle in that sense, there’s less carnage and it’s probably less overtly filthy although black metal without filth would be a strange thing indeed.
“Prosesjon Under Blyhimmel” (Procession under a Leaden Sky) starts in a creepier fashion but the winds soon whip up and the tension rises as the vocalist makes his menacing declarations. Koldbrann deftly switch the tempo between rapid-fire assaults and slower threats, and so keep us honest. After a funereal, Burzumesque interlude, hostilities resume with “Maskiner Av Nihil” (Machines of Nihil). Again Koldbrann switch pace and mood to maximise discomfort. There’s even a clean break towards the end but it’s as if the path has been laid for a still more furious assault. In true style, the aura is of harsh struggle. “Forstanden Seiler Sin Egen Sjø” (The Mind Sails Its Own Sea) didn’t seem to have any direction but represents the usual misanthropic ambiance. “Fortaerer Av Minne Og Form” (Tellers of Memory and Form) carves out a malevolent groove but then so do they all. After an ambient interlude of a track “Vorde Eders Farkost En Katafalk”, the album closes with the epic and merciless aggression of “Seranade Til Dødens Elende” (Seranade to the Misery of Death) – a fine note to end on.
This is an experienced band and it shows. The album title translates as “no mercy” and that’s about the sum of it. Technically and as a representation of harsh and nasty black metal I can fault this but there’s very little scope to deviate in a way that would continue to maintain the malevolence and aggression. So the objective is well and truly achieved, and I did both enjoy and appreciate “Ingen Skånsel” without holding it up as an album that changed my life.
(7/10 Andrew Doherty)
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