HULDER: “VERSES IN OATH”

(This is Todd Manning‘s enthusiastic review of the new album by Hulder, which will be released on February 9th by 20 Buck Spin.)

 It is the critics’ temptation to always glorify the radical and experimental, but sometimes it’s important to realize genius when it is executed within a genre’s traditional confines.  Such is the brilliance of Hulder. Their latest full-length, Verses In Oath, is an exercise in everything that has made black metal such an addictive sound. The embrace of ancient violence and forest mysticism is strong here and they don’t radically deviate from the template, they are just doing it better than almost anyone else right now.

photo by Liana Rakijian

After a short introduction, which appropriately features winds and birds, the first song immediately jumps into blasting black metal. You either love this or you don’t, but I’m guessing most black metal fans will eat it up unless they’re too kvlt to admit it. They deftly maneuver from blast beats to fist-pumping mid-paced sections and back again. Synths sit comfortably near the back of the mix, adding atmosphere without detracting from the heaviness. Hulder’s vocals tend towards the lower pitch, occasionally moving up for emphasis, yet always a commanding presence. This is traditional black metal done right.

“Hearken the End” starts at a more measured pace with an epic riff that is once again complimented with a keyboard melody. The second riff brings a clean vocal line with it, chanted more than sung, giving the section a ritualistic atmosphere. The faster drums and harsh vocals arrive shortly after but the mood remains intact. There is a melodic sense to the guitar work that keeps even the heaviest riffs quite memorable, perhaps nodding towards a bit of a Primordial influence. The title track that follows is simultaneously vicious and haunting. Hulder bangs out Norwegian black metal with the best of them, channeling early Immortal and Satyricon with ease.

The album seems to be split into halves as if conceived to be released only on vinyl. The dividing line are the two short pieces, “Lamentation” and “An Offering”. “Lamentation”, perhaps meant to close out Side A, consists of what sounds like an operatic vocal being played on a warped phonograph. It certainly would work well in the context of a horror movie. “An Offering”, opening the proverbial Side B, is a meditative piece with clean vocals, synths, and drums.

“Cast Into the Well of Remembrance” channels the heaviness into a more melancholy mood, crushing but mournful. When the song speeds up, it feels like an outburst of despair. “Vessel of Suffering” nods once again in Satyricon’s direction, but only slightly, while “Enchanted Steel” feels like an ode to war in the vein of Wolf’s Lair Abyss Mayhem.

photo by Liana Rakijian

The album closer, “Veil of Penitence”, opens with a powerful riff that is interrupted by the sound of clanging swords and battling hordes. Not the most original moment, but once again, you either love this stuff or you don’t. For a moment, razor-sharp guitars, keyboards, and a drum battery all seem to battle for supremacy, and somehow they all win. This is black metal at its zenith.

Hulder exemplifies what makes black metal great without ever being derivative. Surely they own all the best albums and have all the right influences, but all this knowledge has been distilled into a creation that is all their own. Verses in Oath is a huge step forward for an already promising band.

https://linktr.ee/Hulder_official
https://20buckspin.bandcamp.com/album/verses-in-oath
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https://www.facebook.com/HulderUS