Khold return with their eighth album.
Following their triumphant comeback two years ago, Gard (guitar/vocals, Tulus), Rinn (guitar, ex-Ancient Reign) and Sarke (drums, Sarke, Tulus), now accompanied by Steinar (bass, Sarke, ICS Vortex, ex-Lunaris) are back at it again with Du dømmes til Død, on Soulseller Records.
Myrdynk begins with a slow haunting rhythmic pattern where raucous growls settle in, allowing the icy roots to lead the haunting march towards more martial heavy sonorities. The sound sharply breaks to accelerate with Vanviddfaren, a slightly more motivating composition where jerky Thrash-infused riffs will get our skulls shaking, then it’s with assumed Old School roots that Heks (du dømmes til død) unveils its disquieting leads that come to life on a relatively hectic basis, but which knows how to adapt to the ambient anguish. Skoggangsmann reverts to energetic, unifying patterns while leaving a few bass melodies behind, then it’s with a very (too?) quiet introduction that Misgrep lures us into its net before accelerating thanks to its catchy Black’n’Roll influences. Pure darkness quickly resurfaces on Trolldomsdømt, closely followed by the efficient energetic basis that only the break soothes before letting it explode and regain its liveliness, leading us to Lædel, a slightly heavier track that relies on slow, dissonant keys to cover its march. The next track Galgeberg og Retterbakke accelerates the band’s fury and coldness with the usual sonorities, before hypnotizing us one last time with the groovy, dry riffs of Dølgsmål, the ninth composition, which is sure to get fists raised and skulls shaking live.
Khold preserves its darkness with the short Du dømmes til Død. The album takes a few risks, but remains true to its roots and will undoubtedly satisfy regulars with impressive regularity.
80/100