I love Black Metal, the rawer the better, and the more tortured and vile the better. The raw hate of the Black Legions in France, True Norwegian Black Metal, the fact is that every country has it’s own vital scene, using their traditional influences to carve their own niche and get that legendary status that every band seeks.

And so here I am with the new Den Saakaldte and their fourth full-length Pesten Som Tar Over and, I’ve never heard of them before so obviously I had no idea what I was going into blindly. Den Saakaldte isn’t going to be credited for reinventing the Black Metal wheel any time soon, they started off as a one-man band in 2006 being the creation of Skyelig, then other members came on board for first album Øl, mørke og depresjon. Four albums (including this one) and four splits later, they’re trying to retread a wheel that doesn’t need it. Resulting in an album that; while it doesn’t suck it’s a bit repetitive and tends to go off track a few times.

It starts with “Av Satans Ild” and it’s not bad, a little ethereal stuff with the guitars before the blasting kicks in and once again, it isn’t bad. With ex-members from Arcturus, Ved Buens Ende and Pantheon I; there’s no lack of talented guys in the band and it really makes me wonder why Pesten Som Tar Over is so dull. I mean this record is 59:51 minutes long and while there are some sweet moments… there’s the riff that won’t change in “Dødstrett av alt” a song that doesn’t need to be 8:00 minutes long.

“En ode til spinnersken” adds some slow parts that keep the song from drowning and make it interesting. Quite frankly the songs don’t need to be this long for this style of Black Metal. It can be pulled off in less time, quality over quantity and in this case the quantity results in not a single track under eight minutes, which will go over great live, but for me anyway (the guy with a keyboard) it’s just a bit much. Standout tracks for me were the title track “Pesten som tar over” (10:43) some cool clean vocals make it a nice reprieve and “Hat” which is a fucking rager of a song and my favorite track hands down. Closer “Den stormen i oktober” seals the deal in a suitable Black Metal fashion.

I’m sort of bummed out because I wanted to like this record. I really tried. Maybe it’s just me, who knows? It could be that you, constant reader, will eat this album up and it’ll be your favorite and you’ll tell all your friends; etc. However, for me, it’s a mediocre Black Metal album from guys that are capable of so much more.

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