Ελληνικά
Genre: Black Metal
Country: Norway
Label: Aftermath Music
Year: 2016
Djevel wasted no time after the release of “Saa raa og kald” in 2015 and came out with yet another offering in 2016, entitled “Norkse ritualer” (Norwegian Rituals in English), bringing more of their direct style in play. The all star line up (featuring members of Enslaved, Koldbrann, Kvelertak) focuses only on the pure Norwegian black metal recipe and delivers yet another worthy album, the fourth full length in their discography.
The record opens with a long and potent track “Vi slakter den foerste og den andre, den tredje lar vi gaa mot nord”, which I think translates to the intimidating “We butcher the first and the second, the third we let go north”. The number lasts eight seconds and displays the energetic riffing the band is able to compose, as well as a part with acoustic guitars and some clean, chanting vocals. All the elements appearing in the album are brought into the light by the first track, which is in overall awesome and was also released as a single before the record last year.
“Norske ritualer” has a black and red cover with simple art and it’s completely in Norwegian, not only in the titles and lyrics but musically as well. The vocals are thunderous and the guitar lines are more than amazing, as one great riff comes after the other, tempo changes are frequent and accurate, it doesn’t get dull at any point. Fast tracks like “Maatte vetter rase som aldrig foer”, “Med christi legeme og blod under hoeiere fod” and “Jeg maner eder alle!!” are highly enjoyable, while there are some middle paced moments that doesn’t steal the record it’s epicness at all.
Song lengths vary and we have some quite long tracks apart from the first. Third “Doedskraft og tre nagler” goes up to nine minutes and is also full of interesting ideas, featuring Hoest from Taake as a guest vocalist. To be sincere, I would be surprised if he didn’t appear in an album like that and he definitely boosts the track’s efficiency. Of course, all of “Norske ritualer” is very close to the style of Taake in terms of sound and music as well, if you’re still looking for similar bands or influences.
The closing number “Afgrunds Engle” is almost ten minutes long and starts with a very ominous introduction that already marks the end, it has a bunch of entertaining melodies, acoustic guitars and all Djevel is good at. The dynamics are great and it closes “Norske ritualer” wonderfully, concluding to what can be defined as a solid piece of modern Norwegian black metal by people who have a very good grasp on it.
4/6
