Third release from Jordfäst.
In 2025, Elis (vocals/instruments, Birdflesh, ex-The Arson Project), Jocke Unger (drums, Cursus Bellum), and Olof Bengtsson (vocals) signed with Black Lion Records for the release of Blodsdad och hor.
Divided into two parts, the album begins with four tracks entitled Ett altare av skärvor (“an altar of shards”), where we rediscover the band’s coldness, but also and above all its intoxicating melodies, which blend with the Nordic influences of the vocals. Clean vocals are replaced by screams during the faster passages, where blast beats and fast riffs reign supreme, as on the end of the first track and the first half of the second which eventually becomes heavier, especially with the choirs preparing for the rush into the third part, placing us right in the middle of the storm. The riffs become dissonant, then heavy and majestic again, but the final is very martial and unifying before a slight lull caused by the fourth track, which slowly builds up until it bursts into flames and reveals all its power, including in the long final instrumental section.
Four tracks also make up Dit gudarna tralar ar (“Where the gods are slaves”), and this second half gets off to a flying start, combining the Swedes’ fury with their scathing harmonics projected at full speed, creating the perfect wave of violence. Nothing seems to be able to weaken the track, not even the few moments when the band slows down, such as in the second part, which uses a few more mysterious touches and a melancholic solo, but we feel that the rhythm section is only tempering the explosion before releasing it, and then the third track weaves a more haunting atmosphere. Lively drums and savagery will of course make their return before the band settles into a martial and ultimately almost ritualistic approach with the short fourth and final part, which carries us along to its progressive end, which surrenders to silence.
Rooted in Swedish-style Melodic Black Metal, Jordfäst‘s sound does not hesitate to venture into other, rawer and wilder territories to give Blodsdad och hor a unique touch that sets it apart from other productions.
85/100
