Formed as recently as the Spring of 2015, the Norwegian black metal entity known as Nordjevel has set out to establish its vision of how the genre and occultism should be merged with its self-titled debut. Joined by a certain Swede named F. Widigs (Marduk) on drums, Doedsadmiral and Nord seemingly managed to write and record this forty-six minute opening statement in as little as a couple of months. Given how professionally executed it is, the fact it’s been released by Osmose and just how many impressive aspects there are within its take on traditional black metal, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the band already has a healthy back catalogue behind it…
‘The Shadows of Morbid Hunger’ introduces the band in cinematic fashion as wind, beating drums and the sound of some vague beast emanate. In fact the opening reflects the cover art perfectly and once it’s passed, a deluge of sleek blasting black metal proves the order of the day. The most immediate names – rightly or wrongly – to spring to mind include Dimmu Borgir (minus the operatics), Immortal and Dark Funeral. Certainly ‘Nordjevel’ is closer in savagery and intent to the latter however it’s far more melodic and explores numerous side alleys along the way. The slower ‘Sing for Devastation’ as an example is driven by Widigs’ drums in powerful fashion; all manner of moody and nicely textured riffs emerging along the way. Perhaps the first track to haul out utter brilliance is ‘Djevelen I Nord’, which contains some utterly majestic work – from those epic riffs to the excellent percussive destruction. In contrast, ‘The Funeral Smell’ seeps morbid punk brutality.
As hinted above, one thing Nordjevel does well is shifting gears without sacrificing the momentum of the tracks or the album as a whole. Another impressive demonstration of this is ‘Denne Tidløse Krigsdom’, where curious atmospheric asides and subtly shifting layers of speed dovetail seamlessly. Arguably the one criticism that may be leveled at the band as the record continues is the fact that with each subsequent attack of hyper blasting it’s hard not to feel as if the riff work and passages as a whole sound almost indistinguishable from what has occurred previously. As a side note, this phenomenon reinforces the expertise of Morgan Håkansson at sourcing talents like Widigs for his band and, more so, incorporating them to maximum effect. That said, there are still plenty of pluses in the latter stages of ‘Nordjevel’. ‘Når Noen Andre Dør’ kills with its main riff, while ‘Norges Sorte Himel’ presents an impressively varied, panoramic view of Norge to end with.
As the band makes clear, ‘Nordjevel’ is rooted entirely in traditional black metal. Yet while there are twists along the way, I’m not ultimately convinced that they offer anything spectacularly different to what you may have heard on other albums. It’s a cool example of the genre if you’re really into the more refined end of things but personally, while the component parts are great and I appreciate much of what’s going on, it just doesn’t stick in my mind as a whole. More than anything else, I suppose this can be attributed to the fact that I’ve never been overly enamoured with some of the acts it reminds me of. But at the end of the day beauty is, as they say, in the ear of the beholder.
(7/10 Jamie)
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