Blodfest – Lejres Fald
After finding out about this upcoming release I was intrigued to know just how Blodfest would follow 2008′s ‘Den Flyr Ej Ilden…’ I don’t know what I was expecting to hear when I played it for the first time but this wasn’t it! Lejres Fald marks a significant improvement in every respect of their music. Their previous album was great but this…this makes it look pale and weak like a vegetarian!
Right from the opening bars of ‘Kimbrerkongen’ you’ll notice the massive change. Aided by a heavier sound that favours the percussion and bass it rumbles away like they’ve set up the studio inside a cement mixer and smacked the on button with a big fucking mallet. The weight and aggression of it is supreme as it steamrollers into the first verse like a scrum full of Minotaurs. This is the heaviest Black Metal I’ve heard that still manages to remain true without straying into Death Metal.
I remember reading an article many years ago about the US military playing Metallica to it’s detainees as a torture method. It went on to pose the question why didn’t they play Anaal Nathrakh’s first album instead? That would have worked well but obviously ‘De Slette Skjalde’ would better serve the purpose being a harsh and dissonant and spite ridden droning expression of despair. If held in captivity and unaccustomed to such music you would want to take your own life if this was played at you continuously at loud volume.
‘Vaben Smurt i Dodes Blod’ also has some quality moments like the sinister vocals that sound like compressed evil escaping from a Black Metal cylinder. ‘Dybet Morkt’ begins with a riff that should now be considered for the Danish National Anthem. It’s just as berserk as the other tracks and has a brilliant way of resurrecting the opening riff to close out the track. There is nothing more to add apart from saying that the remaining songs on the album are in every way as furious and enjoyable as those I have mentioned.
For me this album heralds a breakthrough in Black Metal, one in which the ‘easy listening’ records of the past are fully dispensed with. What do I mean by that? Well, you have to fight Lejres Fald, you can’t just sit there listening to it and enjoy it. You have to be alert and listening hard to pick out the many subtle layers, riffs, effects and nuances that make it a truly superb slab of fillet evil. Even after several listens you’ll be picking out segments you previously hadn’t heard.
This review is a World Exclusive and at the time of writing no release date has yet been set for this so be sure to keep checking the band’s site for information. What they’ve told us it that it will be released on limited edition vinyl. Cover art is a canvas painting by Gru D G and highlights just how talented these three people are.
As a testament to the old Danish kings they hail, every song on Lejres Fald possesses the very essence of the cold stone tombs that house their aged spirits. Blodfest have made a truly unique album here by blending an extreme production with their varied and prolific song writing. Mark my words for this bears all the hallmarks of an underground classic.
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 [...]
Fuck, haven’t heard it yet.
Mistake repaired.
Much more violent, brooding, and dark than “Den Flyr ej Ilden”.
Also a bit less ritual and ambient.
How can you have heard it? It is not even out yet!
I released their previous album; Valeskald has been sending me all the BLODFEST 2009/2010 rehearsals’ for a while, and now the “Lejres Fald” album.
what of blodfests albums are “ritual and ambient”?
hAAILZ from DeKay
Not sure I would ever describe them as ambient! Atmospheric maybe but never ambient. All of them have a ritualistic edge. In my opinion this one is their finest work to date and you would do well to purchase a copy from Nonagram.
Lejres Fald is an amazing album from Gru and Bestial out of Denmark. No filler, great all the way through. Heavily recommended to everyone, along with their other bands Nastran, Luciation, and Wolfslair.