NORDJEVEL · Damnous | BLACK LP

Black vinyl in gatefold sleeve with 12-page insert.

Background information about 'Damnous'

"Damnous" arrives as the fourth full-length from Nordjevel, and it lands like a hammer swung by someone who has spent years studying the shape of the anvil. The Norwegian outfit formed in Askim back in 2015 around vocalist Doedsadmiral, and three records in they've added guitarist Destructhor — a man with Morbid Angel, Myrkskog and Zyklon on his résumé — which pushed the whole thing away from the melodic, folk-tinted beginnings into something far denser and considerably more lethal. This is their first outing for Season of Mist Underground Activists, and you can hear a band that knows exactly what it wants.

The record moves with real restlessness: blistering black metal tremolo passages slam straight into death metal weight, then the floor drops out for slower, melodic stretches that let the atmosphere breathe. Doedsadmiral's lyrics circle war, death, anti-Christianity and Norse mythology, delivered in both Norwegian and English, and the bilingual approach gives the album a strange, shifting character — like hearing the same sermon preached in two different churches. Guitars, bass and guest vocals were tracked at Studio Nyhagen with engineer Kjartan Hesthagen, and Fredrik Nordström mixed and mastered at Studio Fredman, the same hands behind "Gnavhòl". The production is thick and punishing but never muddy; you can pick out every layer of the assault.

Guest musicians drift through select tracks, including a closing cover, adding texture without ever softening the blow. Artwork comes courtesy of Khaos Diktator Design. All told, "Damnous" feels like the most fully assembled statement in a catalogue built from a close reading of Norwegian landscape and folklore — a band finally cashing in on everything they've been promising.

For fans of: Marduk, 1349, Watain

Track listing

A1. O'Silent Hell
A2. Funeral Prayer
A3. Unbound in Death
A4. Gospel of Wounds
A5. Damnous
B1. Violence Is Wisdom
B2. Avgrunnsnatt
B3. Starving Worms
B4. Final Flesh

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