HORDE OF HEL

Blodskam

Moribund
rating icon 7.5 / 10

Track listing:

01. Motvärn
02. Leave Life Behind
03. Born Again Into Submission
04. Hail Chaos
05. The Glory Of Massmurder
06. Dödens Ära
07. Living Abomination
08. Visdomen Kallas Döden
09. Domen Mot Människan
10. Blott Tvivel & Skam
11. Legacy Of Vengeance
12. Ashborn
13. March For War
14. Död, Naturens Val


Sweden's HORDE OF HEL are the purveyors of chill and "Blodskam" is the thing that goes bump in the night. Black metal is the engine, but electronic atmospherics that cast a horrifying pall over the happiest of family gatherings is the fuel.

Many of the accolades allocated by fans and critics of industrialized black/death amalgams turn to Australia's THE AMENTA as a quintessential frame of reference, particularly recent effort "Non". While I applauded what is a generally a creative effort by the Aussies I found the songwriting as a whole to be lacking a measure of distinction. This is where "Blodskam" makes a deeper impact (though the "death" part is not applicable here). In general, songs get more of the focus. Mid-tempo groovy cadences abound and melody is not an afterthought (not a central focus either). The method of weaving keyboards/electronic effects into the compositions is what brings out the goose bumps, and in more than a few instances shades of DIMMU BORGIR are heard, if only shades. Taking a song like "Visdomen Kallas Doden" (one of several sung in Swedish),the mix of elements makes for a splendidly toxic potion. The slow, churning cadence and obsidian organ notes are the keys to the song's success. "Legacy of Vengeance" follows suit in its steady crawl into the abyss; the evil delivered by mules crossing the border is 100 percent pure and chances of recovery are slim. The pace is then quickened on "Domen Mot Manniskan", giving it more meat and slam. The use of orchestral passages and choral vocals (e.g. "Blott Tvivel & Skam") is particularly effecting in the creation of uneasiness and foreboding that is felt in the bones. In other words, the horde has concocted a formula for night sweats.

Occasionally, the electronics warrant some trimming and/or compacting, but the formula works far more often than not. "Blodskam" is no grand declaration of intent to turn industrial-leaning black metal on its head, but is a safe bet to send the paranoid running for the light switches.

Author:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).