DJEVEL: “NATT TIL ENDE”

(Today we welcome to NCS a Croatian metal writer currently based in Oslo, Norway, who goes by the name Chile. He brings us the following review of the new album by the Norwegian black metal band Djevel, just released by Aftermath Music.)

Yes, talk about being on a roll. While some bands would take their sweet time to release an album or two, Norwegian forces of otherworldly nature and all things black in the form of Djevel, have come back to us with their ninth album in just fifteen years of existence. Some would raise an eyebrow or two to this prolific manner in this day and age, but we are raising our glasses and horns to another devilish masterpiece.

Appropriately titled Natt til ende (Night to the End) and released in the middle of the dark November by Aftermath Music, the album packs a punch so fierce that the fury unleashed can be felt up to high heavens, which makes even more sense when we heed the words of T. Ciekals, the creative force behind Djevel:

“Natt til ende is the last and final conclusion in the trilogy about the “night”. This last chapter is my manifest of the final ending of christianity and death of “Jesus”, in both physical and mental shape. Naturally this also lifts the idea and concept of forces christianity calls evil. The same forces I would call natural and human. They may be described as in a dream or in a more harsh speech. The idea that “god” lives on in, and through man, is to me repulsive, and this trilogy, and then this album is my perspective on how I see this should come to an end. This is black metal, this is the end of all false hope and “light”. To a new bright beginning!”

Naturally, this quote tells us little about the music itself and some might say he just described, more or less, black metal in general. While true in a sense, we also have to acknowledge the fact that nobody today makes black metal the way Djevel does and that is what makes their dark arts so attractive. This being the final part of the Night trilogy, it is also the shortest one, at almost a quarter of an hour slimmer than its predecessor Naa skrider natten sort, which in turn makes this album a more direct presentation of the aforementioned ideas.

As a confirmation, “Bespottelsen” opens the procession in such a vicious manner that when it was first released as a single all the way back in sunny July, it felt like a perfect winter antithesis to burning sunscreened bodies on the beaches. The way that first riff just feels cold as frost on your skin and then gains in intensity as a blizzard swirling snowflakes like ghosts in the snow, really is a testament to the band’s compositional mastery. And that’s just the first riff. It gets better and darker.

Next up, “En vinter efter kommer” ramps up the darkness by slowing down a bit, rolling those riffs over beastly, snarling screams. Soon enough it’s speeding back again to the full force of the coming storm until out of the blue the music stops and an ethereal chant appears, taking this song to a whole other level. “Ravnehymne” lifts us immediately after, even further under black wings, and is a prime example of taking things boldly to new spheres with the band completely on fire, coalescing into a single entity that breathes and lives the very philosophy they propagate.

“Jesu lidelse” takes hold of us from the very first picked note. The majestic atmosphere makes this song a centerpiece of the album in more ways than one. The rasping vocals gnawing away at the bones of false prophets and denouncing the light, guitars burning through the flesh like sulphur in the veins of the saints, and thunderous drums twisting the innards of the forsaken souls, all form a completely crushing manifestation of black metal and one of the best songs of the band’s career.

The second single “Under nattens fane i fandens prakt” takes us deeper under the banner of night where man is only a fog of loneliness and anxiety, adding a good dose of keyboards that seem as old school as any of the tropes Djevel uses, but at the same time screams timelessness into the freezing void.

The short piano instrumental “I skovaandsfavn” offers almost a welcoming respite from the wintery dark but then immediately segues into the monstrous title track “Natt til ende”, also the longest song in the band’s career; at almost fifteen minutes it takes up one-third of the entire album. Never strangers to longer suites, with this one the band truly take us on a journey to the end of the night. Throwing the listener directly into the maelstrom, the first minutes approach Thy Darkened Shade levels of monumental glorification of the absence of light by absolutely pummeling the listener relentlessly. Making a turn around the four-minute mark, the song starts to spiral down in hypnotic, ritualistic circles with keyboards taking precedence over guitars in a grandiose conclusion of the final liberation of man and nature.

Nine albums deep into their career and still with no sign of letting up in either quality or intensity, this makes Djevel probably (ok, forget probably) the best black metal coming out of Norway at this moment and in the last decade for that matter. One almost feels they are one of black metal’s best kept secrets, and at the same time they are absolutely a top-tier band deserving more recognition in our respected circles.

This said, Djevel is also not a very touring band for some time now, but they are planning a very special two-night event in Oslo, Norway next November (yes, the 2025 one) which makes the wait even harder after witnessing the glory of the new album, which you can get a taste of below.

The new album is out now and is available from Aftermath Music digitally and on CD, with cassette coming in December and vinyl in January 2025. For orders, check the links below.

DJEVEL ONLINE:
https://djevel.bandcamp.com/album/natt-til-ende
https://www.aftermath-music.com/en-us
https://www.facebook.com/djevelmakt
https://open.spotify.com/album/2prGOtt8IiyvH6SgsBz0ll?si=1kh4QiYXQSqnHpcZC9vLqA