Published: April 17, 2024

I have been on hiatus for a little over three months now! I have not felt the urge or desire to write about anything this past few months, but when 𝗪𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗵 sent me the latest offering from his band 𝗗ø𝗱𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗱, I gave it a listen and I immediately felt compelled to write a review about said release!

After the release of 𝗗ø𝗱𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗱’s masterpiece, “𝗦𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗜𝗜” (2021), Wrath collaborated with 𝗺.𝗦𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗼𝗸 to create the mostly acoustic and atmospheric EP “𝗔𝘀𝗽𝗵𝘆𝘅𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗦𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀” (2023). This release featured the more anguished and depressive style of vocals from frontman 𝗪𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗵, along with many spoken word passages. And, at that time I wondered, “is this the new direction we can expect from the band on future releases?”

Well, upon the album details and art reveal back in January of this year, 𝗗ø𝗱𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗱 founder and frontman 𝗪𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗵 promised that the new album would be a no holds barred, uncompromising onslaught of raw black metal, filled with fury and passion… ….and I can proudly say that 𝗗ø𝗱𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗱’s aptly titled twelfth full-length studio album, “𝗪𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗛” is exactly what was promised.

Gone are the anguished cries from the bands previous few releases, as they are replaced by the rage fueled screams as heard on the band’s earlier releases like “𝗙𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻” (2007)! Many would wonder how a man like 𝗪𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗵 can continue to be so creative, especially since he is active in so many projects outside of 𝗗ø𝗱𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗱. But, one just has to listen to the music or read the lyrics of the songs to understand what feeds his artistic direction and creativity. It’s his unending rage and hatred for the greed, corruption, and warfare which causes so much death, destruction and suffering! And, this unending rage results in searing, raw, black metal excellence! As it seems that these atrocities won’t end, I think we will continue to witness the magnificence of 𝗪𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗵 and 𝗗ø𝗱𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗱 for quite some time!

𝗪𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗵 (𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻) truly has pushed boundaries whilst on his artistic journey, but he has always kept true to the core element of black metal with 𝗗ø𝗱𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗱. The result is a formidable monolithic catalog of work, spanning over the bands twenty-plus-year run with all the aptitude and murkiness that comes from being an essential part of the underground. And, “𝗪𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗛” (the album) feels to me as if it were an effortless endeavor for an act that epitomizes the true definition of black metal! I know I have said this before, but I mean it when I say that this album has easily taken its place as my favorite 𝗗ø𝗱𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗱 release thus far!