Let’s discover together Gnipahalan.
Created in Sweden by Swartadauþuz (guitar/bass/keyboards, Bekëth Nexëhmü, Muvitium, Trolldom, ex-Digerdöden…) and Taaken (drums, Odal, Wolfsschrei, ex-Barastir, ex-Erhabenheit…), the duo releases their first demo in 2014. After four demos and two splits, they announce I Nordisk Vredeslusta in 2022.
The album smoothly begins with Forna minnen, an airy and heady introduction which leaves us as soon as I stormens led starts, accompanied by visceral and aggressive screams. The epic and massive instrumental lets the voice reveal an interesting and always intense vocal range, but we can feel some kind of progressive appeasement before the final which drives us to Odestimmans kampfyllda har, a haunting composition which offers more melodic tones. The wall of blast is always present to accompany harmonics and orchestrations, then it will leave us a few moments to let Fortrollad till Efvighet reveal itself before the saturation ignites again. Mixing raw violence and icy melodies, riffs take again support on this massive basis while I blodets svarta dunkel del I offers us a disturbing introduction with keyboards. Dark Ambient influences invade our mind with ghostly vocals, then Inom tusenarig visdom lets the devastating Black Metal resurface with piercing leads. This very dissonant track never seems to weaken, even when an ominous voice replaces screams or when saturation disappears to come back more impressive and slower, revealing a different atmosphere but it perfectly announces I Nordisk Vredeslusta, a very slow and quiet track. Keyboards offer an impression of fog from which riffs and the sampled lyrics escape, then the rhythmic will explode at the end, just before Nordens majestat takes over with a dissonant energy developed on a melancholic slowness. One will note this near absence of drums in favor of keyboards which leave all the place to screams and leads, then the rhythmic resurfaces on I Blodets Svarta Dunkel del II. The old school roots are skillfully mixed with cold melodies and different vocal parts throughout this long, abrasive and majestic track, which will end before Bort i Efvigheten, the last composition, comes to add a final touch of soothing keyboards to close the album.
With I Nordisk Vredeslusta, we discover a rich and tortured universe which relies as much on Old School and visceral Black Metal as on Dungeon Synth influences and majestic keyboards. Very long, the album allows Gnipahalan to wrap us in its mist for a good hour.
80/100