HULDER · Verbolgen | BLACK TAPE

Black shell music cassette in regular Norelco box with j-card. Limited to 50 copies worldwide.

Background information about 'Verbolgen'

HULDER has always been a name whispered in the darker corners of the black metal underground, but with Verbolgen, the project steps fully into the light — or rather, into a deeper, more ancient shadow. This is the first record where Necreon takes his place as co-leader rather than session contributor, and you can hear it in every carefully placed note. The nine tracks move with a ritualistic weight, weaving together the frostbitten severity of classic black metal with something far more layered and strange.

What strikes you first is the atmosphere. Keld's hurdy gurdy and keys lend a processional, almost medieval quality to the proceedings, while Ianuaria's flute drifts through like mist over a frozen battlefield. The dual drummers Vapula and Vrolok split duties, each bringing their own pulse to the record, and Ahti Kortelainen's mix at Tico Tico Studio gives everything an earthy, resonant depth that feels like it was carved from stone and soil. Three tracks are sung in Flemish, which gives Verbolgen an incantatory, otherworldly dimension that sets it apart from anything HULDER has done before. Morrigan's cover art — her first for a metal band in nearly three decades — and Jannicke Wiese Hansen's updated logo complete the picture. This is black metal that breathes, that bleeds, that remembers where it came from.

For fans of:
Bathory, Dissection, Moonsorrow

Track listing

1. Drie Raven (Intro)
2. The Crowning
3. Thy Binding Oath
4. Verbolgen
5. ...And We Shall Sing
6. In Blood and in Earth
7. Den Nacht Zijn Lied
8. View From Nemeton
9. The Glow of Dawn
10. A Beacon From Darkened Skies
11. Zonnesteen

Manufacturer: Sasu Soundworks Sarl, 126 Boulevard Bara, Heliopolis 2, Lot B4, 13013 Marseille, France, Contact: www.season-of-mist.com