Ulvehyrde, from the cold north (Hønefoss, Norway) brings traditional black metal with a focus on atmosphere, mid-tempo riffing and a dark historical theme. After their debut Englemakersken they now bring their sophomore record to us. Dødsdømt, 8 tracks of Norwegian black metal being released on the 31st of October this year on digipack, limited edition vinyl and of course digitally.
With some great members performing on this album, like Jarle Byberg (drummer for Urgehal) and Brede Norlund (vocals for Beastcraft) this release will have high expectations. Being produced by Malphas (Carpathian Forest, Svarttjern & Vulture Lord) gives an idea on what to expect: clean produced black metal.
Merraflåer opens this sophomore album, and does this without bursting into blast beats. The tempo is slow, almost doom like, not an everyday choice but it suits the building of tension well. Being just over three minutes long it knows when to make an end, as to not drag it on. The second track Jammerdalen starts as would be expected from the first track. Mid-tempo blast beats, shrieking guitars and foul screams on top of it. This track is not really noteworthy though, it is a bit standard and it lacks its own identity.
The title track is the first track that does have that feeling, the tension is building up great and the guitars sound evil and direct. The use of spoken words breaks the use of screaming, and it fits the music rather well.
Unfortunately the rest of the tracks are a lot like the first few, they sound great (and good production) but lack an identity of their own. It is decent quality music, but a bit boring.
Fans of this style of black metal would like a spin or two, but nothing more.
70/100
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