Dödsrit – Nocturnal Will
Release Date: 22nd March 2024
Label: Wolves Of Hades
Bandcamp
Genre: Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal, Atmospheric Black Metal.
FFO: Wolves In The Throne Room, Show Me A Dinosaur, Ulver.
Review By: Ross Bowie
Dödsrit are back with their 4th album and have continued their journey into more expansive and grandiose terrains. The Swedes push their mix of atmospheric black metal and traditional metal influences further than ever before and have the song lengths to back it up.
Nocturnal Will takes the sound that Dödsrit have been refining more and more with every release and pushes it to the limit. The opening song, Irjala wastes no time by starting with a dual lead guitar line that is so fun and attention-grabbing that Dödsrit have their hooks in you before the intro has even really got started. The track is full of black metal tremolo riffing, but it’s fighting for space with their trad-metal influence, and the two sides constantly fighting for the spotlight makes for an assault on the senses as every idea is pushed to its limit.
Despite the Nocturnal Will being full of pace and aggression, the album knows the perfect moment to take that foot off the gas and let the atmosphere wash over you. As Death Comes Reaping has one of the best black metal riffs on the album but also goes into a beautiful clean and acoustic guitar passage, before building itself back up again for one last push as everything comes together one last time.
In 2018 Dödsrit expanded from a solo project into a full band and Nocturnal Will is the sound of the other members all coming together to create something new while maintaining Dödsrit sound. The band have taken all the elements from their previous work, and expanded and pushed every corner of it to create something new. The use of atmosphere is deployed expertly across the album but also knows when to take a back seat and let the extremity take over while Christoffer Oster and Georgios Maxoris retch and scream at you with fury pumping through their veins.
The production of this album is also a standout. While it doesn’t have the traditional black metal sound of sounding like it was recorded in a bin on the other side of a forest, it goes for a far cleaner approach, while not sanding down any of its edges; you can make out every note that is being played which really accentuates the guitar leads but really benefits the atmosphere that the clean and acoustic guitars bring to the chaos. It adds a beautiful and sombre sheen to the whole record, giving it a melancholic vibe.
Dödsrit have grown into something that even long-term fans wouldn’t have seen coming, the band have spent time working on their craft and have returned with their best release to date. Nocturnal Will has that finale feeling, so what the future holds for the band will be exciting to see.
(4 / 5)
