Blodfest – Den Flyr Ej Ilden…
Only a few weeks ago, me and Stug were discussing the apparent lack of any quality Danish Black Metal bands and asking how could one of the Nordic nations have been left behind? Given the history of the Danes it was inconceivable that this could have happened. We looked into the matter and after a while scouring Denmark’s page on Metal Archives we were clobbered by the gnarly nailed truncheons of Blodfest.
A timely materialisation if ever there was one, we can now dispel our own ridiculous assumptions and herald one of the triumphs of Danish Black Metal. No messing about here, Blodfest get straight down to business. Initially ‘Ilde Skæbne’ sounds a bit like Satyricon’s Nemesis Divina, but not for long as it’s quickly evident this is so much more individual and interesting than that.
All areas set out their agenda for the album right from the start: there are memorable moments by guitars, percussion and vocals during the first 4 minutes. When ‘Det Urgamle Tegn’ rolls out you realise that its going to be like that all the way through. This track, as with the others, has a deeply suppressing and evil tone to it as the riffs rip through the ether. It’s a soundtrack to the picture of the band below.
‘Ihjel han sig selv Dræbte’ manifests itself cruelly and frantically. The percussion is superbly aggressive and consumes the beginning as Bestial Butcher pummels the living shit out of his kit like an epileptic octopus and lives up to his name admirably. The tempo is turned down a notch for the next section but the guitars take over the atrocities. The only let-up for the whole seven and a half minutes is the introduction of a cavernous riff towards the end but that doesn’t last long and is swept away by some more severe lunacy to the conclusion.
Next up is ‘Valfaders Visdom’ which features adept string manipulation. There are clever ideas at work here as we are administered an arrangement which regenerates itself a couple of times in the first ninety seconds! Slayer would have been proud of that!! The rest of the song is imbued with subtle traces of Danish Viking heritage.
Sandwiched between two creepy and disturbing atmospheric instrumentals is ‘Ifing’, full of discordant rumbling and spite. The last couple of tracks have an aura all of their own.
This album was released first on tape and then transferred onto disc, so it maintains that old 1980s video tape horror film quality, which makes it fuckin’ necro. ‘Vor Konge er Død’ and ‘Knogler af mugne Lig’ reap what the other songs have sown and provide more nastiness and a fitting end to the album. The last ninety seconds fades out with a wavering bell tolling and what sounds like skeletons waking up and moving about their grim business.
All the instruments of mass destruction on Den Flyr Ej Ilden… have many memorable moments. The arrangements are extremely well thought out and show real intelligence and creativity in their composition. When garnished with the despicable and snarly two vocalist onslaught it makes for one of the deadliest packages of weapons grade Black Metal you’re ever likely to encounter.
Official Site (Releases Section Features Samples)
Black Metal is dead. In the UK at least. Seeing as though it is the place that gave birth to the genre it is as fuckin’ useless a broke-dick dog. There is no scene to speak of, just the odd one or two equally useless bands trying in vain to mimic some of the more [...]
Opening with a song title of the length Bal Sagoth would be proud of (thankfully that’s as the only comparison to draw), the imaginatively titled ‘A Glimpse of the Image of Lucifer Gleaming Beyond the Subterraneous Black Sun’ marches forth. Mid paced, it stamps away with the precision of a well oiled Black Metal machine [...]
Fuckin great album. Good to hear some Black Metal from Denmark for a change.
pure dark unholiness of the north
Hil det hedensk kult.
Hil Blodfest.