Hulder is returning to its roots.
For this third album, Verbolgen – released jointly by Season of Mist and 20 Buck Spin – Hulder (guitar/vocals, Bleeder) has teamed up with Necreon (bass/vocals, Funebrarum, ex-Undergang), transforming the project into a duo.
They’ve also enlisted Keld (hurdy-gurdy/guitar/keyboards, Crypt Sermon, Obsequiae, Panopticon), Vapula (drums, Heart of the Serpent), Vrolok (drums, Avaot, ex-Aeternus, ex-Gorgoroth), and Januaria (flute).
The album opens very slowly with Drie Raven, an acoustic introduction with soft, unapologetic Folk roots that lulls us with its rhythm before giving way to The Crowning, which invokes impressive Black Metal paired with a few majestic touches before the first screams kick in, creating a macabre and oppressive atmosphere. Clean vocals give us a moment to catch our breath, but this respite is short-lived, giving way to folk instruments and furious accelerations that lead into Thy Binding Oath, the next track, where a dark stillness awaits us, spreading like wildfire. The various vocal parts provide an intoxicating diversity while the haunting riffs weave their darkness, before title track Verbolgen imposes a far wilder and more aggressive pace, built on blast beats and a heavy rhythm section. The track unfortunately doesn’t last long, giving way all too quickly to …And We Shall Sing, which draws on the same elements and overwhelms us in a rather similar way, while featuring almost ritualistic passages filled with choirs before slowing down again to return to a gentler tone on In Blood and In Earth and its acoustic introduction, only to resume the haunting distortion. Although this sound now dominates, it’s interspersed with small, more ethereal and dissonant touches, creating a contrast with Den Nacht Zijn Lied, which is immediately more oppressive, yet also a bit more majestic with its orchestrations paired with pure aggression. The track is quite long, but it captivates us from start to finish, especially when the intoxicating harmonics are added to the mix; then, with View From Nemeton, the sound ignites, revealing very raw tones at a frantic pace. Of course, we’ll find the dreamlike keyboards and vocal parts again, but the track is highly dynamic, shifting from one to the other without warning before leaving us with The Glow of Dawn, the final composition – initially much slower, yet infused with ethereal Folk touches and a certain contagious melancholy that, without a single word, brings this adventure to a close.
The musicians still had a surprise in store for us so we could stay in their company a bit longer: the EP A Beacon From Darkened Skies and its two tracks, which are included on certain editions of the album, allowing us to plunge back into the darkness while savoring the brutal A Beacon From Darkened Skies, as well as the highly ceremonial and ritualistic Zonnesteen, a composition bordering on Neo-Folk that fits perfectly into their universe.
The name Hulder comes up very often when discussing new Black Metal bands, and Verbolgen confirms their growing reputation. Be sure to pick up the album, and never hesitate to catch one of the band’s live performances.
95/100