Published: April 15, 2024

 Given all that has been accomplished within the vast reaches of black metal in the decades since its inception, it has become exceedingly obvious that there are still more than a few old bastions of that classic vein that are able to deliver the goods on such a level that leaves the mind utterly bewildered. There’s a solid list of names that we can sift through when it comes to reliability, consistency, and quality when it comes to the material in question over the years, and few have remained as persistent and constant as Dødsferd. Far from a name that should be new to anyone who dares call themselves black metal aficionados, time has only sweetened the bitterness of Dødsferd’s hate with the material absolutely matching. Now twelve full-length albums deep, Dødsferd continues to show no signs of wavering in potency.

How do you craft a follow-up to a massive album that was a flagship for your sound as the creation pushed your specific style forward with such artistic glory and unbridled passion? Surely, that was a question that plagued Dødsferd after it had put forth its 2021 masterwork, “Suicide and the Rest of Your Kind Will Follow II”. Yet, the answer is quite simple: return to what you’ve always been good at. For Dødsferd, it’s utterly scathing black metal that is somehow seductive in its unending rage, hatred, and ultimate sorrows that make for some of the most compelling in the entire underground with “Wrath” only perpetuating that magnificence. At the crossroads of pushing its sound down a unique artistic path while keeping true to the core of uncompromising black metal that has always been the vessel Dødsferd commands with consistent excellence in mind.

The resulting sound is black metal that can feel as though we’ve come before many times over the years, but it’s through its own sense of nuance and mastery of the craft that “Wrath” quickly transforms into an imposing beast of a work that channels the very howling of the burning, tortured souls beneath the earth where they rightfully belong for their bastardizing and warring for goals that are little more than petty squabbling even in the best of circumstances. Never once afraid to use riffs in fierce conjunction with exceedingly focused dirges of hate and suffering, “Wrath” is a work that cannot be seen as anything less than expected from the like of Dødsferd for all that the act has accomplished over its twenty-plus-year run with all the flair and darkness that comes from being a true staple of the underground. Effortless in its eclectic approach that sees the act rise in slow, fast, and mid-tempo black metal while never once failing to keep its vision pure and fiery, how can one not see Dødsferd is still in top form with this powerful record?

Where many have sought to keep their claim in black metal excellence over time, few have been as cunning and effective as what Dødsferd has demonstrated time after time. The act needed to prove absolutely nothing with its power and dominance nothing that can be denied as it has become a gargantuan presence that has simply been nothing to be denied for a long time now, and that is only made evermore painfully clear with this wild success of a twelfth album! Wrath is Dødsferd and Dødsferd is Wrath. It’s always been that simple with “Wrath” the epitome of that truth.