I’m never sure what I’m going to get when I go into a Ghaal album, whether it’s his Wyrd project or God Seed or even Gorgoroth. I mean, he’s really known for Gorgoroth and his last album with them, Ad Majorem Sathanas Glorium remains one of my favorite releases, it was a bit experimental and that was ok too.

If you haven’t heard of Trelldom, it’s ok; neither have I, but that all changed today when I selected this album in my music and just let it play. Black Metal Jazz is how I might describe it, if I were so bold, and maybe I am bold enough to go there.

…By the Shadows… is first and foremost a Black Metal album, but it’s also a complex album and that’s before the bad as fuck Saxophones kick in. Ghaal, who’s going by his given name Kristian Eivind Espedal has assembled a group of highly qualified individuals to get the point across. A line-up to die for: Kristian Eivind Espedal – vocals, Kenneth Kapstad – drums, Stian Kårstad – guitars, bass, electronics and Kjetil Møster – saxophones, clarinet, electronics… yes you saw that right… SAXOPHONE! For some reason, Black Metal bands love the Saxophone, and we are better listeners for it.

…By the Shadows… begins with the lurching “The Voice of What Whispers” some crazy drums and ethereal vocals. This track is bloody mad! The drums are what you notice first, but it’s what happens next is like Shining and Teitanblood spewed forth this disgusting blob and the offspring is Trelldom.

Mind you this is my first exposure to them, and I haven’t gone back and listened to the rest of their albums so I’m going in hard on this one. Back to the song really quick though because this is where the Black Metal Jazz kicks in. It’s like a clinic on how to fucking do it. The drums are like a blackend heartbeat, hypnotic and possessive.

I can’t think of him as Ghaal on …By the Shadows…  this sounds like something totally unexpected (for me anyway). It’s Kristian Eivind Espedal shedding the skin of Gorgoroth and embracing the darkness that is blacker than black. This is evident with “Exit Existence” a DSBM crawling beast. It’s almost like a avant garde horror movie set to music, twisting riffs that pop out of nowhere and strike at your brain with lethal razors, slashing away viciously. Very morose…

This effect is heightened 1,000 fold on “Return the Distance” a raw, brutal barrage of Jazz and Black Metal, a dip into the boiling oil of existence. But it’s the second half of the album where things just become unhinged, there’s the absolute dive into DSBM on “Between the World” all clean vocals to boot. There’s no harsh vocals on … By the Shadows… at all, which is just fine because dude’s got a great and powerful voice.

That voice shines on “I Drink Out of My Head” a catchy as hell, bounding song. My favorite song on the album, as well. The main melody is fucking hypnotic and the shit going on within the band itself is astonishing. So many moments that coalesces into that main riff. There’s blasting in there; which is used sparingly on …By the Shadows… a frothing beast right before the morose “Hiding Invisible” with haunting shrieks and screaming while the music rolls over you like a Black Metal steamroller, it’s a perfect lead-in to “…By the Shadows…” the song. Which is fucking killer, by the way. It hits with lethal intensity, intentionally boring holes in your festering bubble of protection and making you realize you don’t matter in the grand scheme. There’s some of those harsh vocals that I had forgotten about, but heard them today and while being harsh, they’re still melodic and hard hitting.

…By the Shadows… is an avant-garde Black Metal Jazz adventure into the likes of Dødheimsgard or Happy Days, with Shining thrown in for maximum DSBM listening pleasure. A black void that leads to the very core of human emotions, raw and slit open to the viscera. Pick this up and get violent.

[Visit the band's website]

---

Comments