Trelldom continues on its new path.
Emerging from the shadows two years ago, the project led by Kristian Eivind “Gaahl” Espedal (vocals, Gaahls Wyrd, ex-God Seed, ex-Gorgoroth…), now joined by Stian Kårstad (guitar/effects, Nidingr, ex-God Seed, ex-Gaahls Wyrd), Kenneth Kapstad (drums, Goat the Head, ex-God Seed), Eirik Øien (bass), and Kjetil Møster (saxophone/clarinet/organ), unveils its fifth album, …by the Word…, with the support of Prophecy Productions.
The band is assisted by Geir Sundstøl on some instrumental parts.
When This Was Young opens with a sound that is initially unsettling, but which quickly welcomes the instruments to bring to life an increasingly dissonant and oppressive atmosphere, playing on the unknown before letting Gaahl lay his clean vocals down, accompanying a rhythm section with ethereal influences. The strange sounds weave a veil that is both calm and threatening, capable of erupting at any moment, but they instead choose the path of the unexpected by transitioning into I Speak Forgotten Voices,” which, though it embraces its Black Metal roots, chooses to remain within this chaotic and deeply unsettling calm. The drums are sure to ignite the track while letting the other band members do their thing, leading us into This Moment the Life of a Memory and its much livelier yet shifting pace, which eventually takes on heavy, unsettling Doom influences that quickly give way to the magic of By the Word. Before we really realize it, something seems to come to life in the music, possessing the founder’s voice, which now haunts his bandmates’ riffs with greater presence, as they become far more imposing on Folding the Mind, a new composition marked by unexpected accelerations and decelerations, always disrupted by the most dissonant instruments possible. We then move on to the icy The Word – Choose to Vanish, which offers us superb, contemplative instrumental sections before the vocalist steps in, like a ghost who appears when you least expect it, but who also knows how to yield the stage to the intricate patterns. We’re already moving on to In There Outside,” the final track, which – like its predecessors – will introduce fantastical elements to complement the already heavy foundation and bring its most haunting shadows to life, closing the album with an atmosphere far heavier than the one in which it began.
Saying Trelldom is a unique project would be the most unfair understatement, given how haunting and unsettling the band’s music is. If you like avant-garde and dissonant tones, …by the Word… will be your favorite of the year.
75/100
