Dødheimsgard to DHG is kind of like Covenant to Kovenant. They are not fooling anyone, and the name change is meaningless anyway, absolutely everyone knows who they are, even with the loss of their logo and the loss of the band members that mattered. Are they a parody of themselves or something worse? Gone are dramatic atmospheres, whispered vocals, shrieks, buzzing guitars, instead we get shouted vocals, various electronica effects, whistles and beeps, and minimal guitar with no leads.

All the songs are short. “The Vile” is noise effects, shouting, simple drumming with occasional speed. With “Unaltered Beast”, if you subtract the various effects, which detract from the songs anyway, there is not really anything left. “Ghostforce Soul Constrictor” is blastbeats and double bass ruined by the weird sonic effects. “Apocalypticism” features some vocals closer to old style buried by a dance rhythm. After two minutes I can’t stand it anymore, enough is enough. I would call it the worst song on the album but I have not played them all yet. “Chrome Balaclava” proves it could get worse, clean wordless singing with noise effects. By “Supervillain Serum” the shouted vocals don’t bother me anymore. Some interesting guitar lines open the song. (interesting compared to what has preceded it at any rate) Those pesky effects ruin a drum performance that is a bit more varied. They saved the worst for last. If you can stomach it the 15th track is “21st Century Devil” where we learn about a jilted lover and that it is the 21st Century, and in case you did not catch it, he will repeat it eleven times for you.

I would vote for this as most disappointing album of the year but honestly I was not expecting much, so I was not really disappointed, so maybe worst album of the year. I have not heard them all but I can’t imagine anyone surpassing this one. This one is not even worth getting for free.

[Visit the band's website]

---

Comments