NORDJEVEL · Damnous | GOLD BLACK SPLATTER LP

Golden vinyl with black splatters in gatefold sleeve, includes 12-page insert. Limited to 200 copies worldwide.

Background information about 'Damnous'

Nordjevel have always sounded like a band carved out of Norwegian granite, and "Damnous" is the moment that granite starts to crack and bleed. Formed in Askim in 2015 around vocalist Doedsadmiral, the group spent three records sharpening a melodic, folk-tinged blade. Then guitarist Destructhor — a veteran of Morbid Angel, Myrkskog and Zyklon — stepped in, and the whole thing got heavier, meaner and far more dangerous. This fourth full-length, their first for Season of Mist Underground Activists, is the sound of a band finally swinging with everything they have.

What makes "Damnous" so gripping is the way it refuses to pick a lane. Blistering black metal tremolo gives way to death metal's crushing weight, then suddenly the storm parts for slower, melodic passages sung in both Norwegian and English. Doedsadmiral's lyrics dig through war, death, anti-Christianity and Norse mythology, and you can feel the cold landscape in every riff. Tracked at Studio Nyhagen with engineer Kjartan Hesthagen and mixed and mastered at Studio Fredman by Fredrik Nordström — the same man behind "Gnavhòl" — the record sounds enormous without ever losing its raw, hostile edge. Guest musicians drift through select tracks, including a closing cover, adding atmosphere rather than softening the blow.

The result is the most fully assembled statement in a catalogue built on a close reading of Norwegian folklore and landscape. Artwork by Khaos Diktator Design seals the deal. Pressed on gold vinyl with black splatters in a gatefold with a 12-page insert, limited to 200 copies worldwide.

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