The world of Norwegian black metal is one that I’m quite familiar with as it’s a style that I sunk myself into many times when I first discovered the style years ago, but I came out only really enjoying a few bands with Mork being the particular top for me. Since then, I haven’t gone back into that style all too often and the name of Gjendød is a name that I’ve come to recognize for years at this point but I’ve never actually sat down and listened to them since their very first demo. Three years have past and I figured I was overdue to check back in, and it’s with their latest album that Gjendød shows me that I have a lot of catching up to do.

What always gets me about Norwegian black metal is simply how fucking raw it gets and how it manages to keep that raw power at a maximum for the entire duration of the album, but it’s not the sort of cheap made-in-basement-with-cheaper-equipment type of raw as it’s refined in an odd sense with real power backing up every moment. And there are riffs, typically, so that’s always a plus. I vividly remember Gjendød’s first demo being promising, and any promise that they brought then has only been multiplied exponentially with the vicious glory that is “Krigsdøger”. Nothing has been spared and no mercy is given with this recording from beginning to end as it’s with these nine tracks of utter intensity that Gjendød is surely at the top of their game and gives us an experience that is sure to make just as much of a stir in the community as their debut did. There’s not a single moment throughout the perpetual black onslaught of “Krigsdøger” that isn’t touched by a riff or an immense wall of sound that’s filled with flavor and malice the likes of which that only Norwegian black metal can produce in such high potency. It’s with each successive spin of this monstrous record that you become all the more enamored by the seething mass that is constantly going for the kill time after time, and Gjendød has made “Krigsdøger” so intoxicating that a repeat spin is all but mandatory by the time you’ve finished with this album of pure Northern chaos.

If there is any sort of collection of the current generation of Norwegian black metal acts that are meant to highlight the best out of the style, it would be a crime if Gjendød wasn’t added to that as it’s with “Krigsdøger” that they’ve proven their salt many times over with everything that makes the style great in no less than splendid fashion! Should there be any album of this genre that could take the throne as the best of its kind come the end of the year, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Gjendød sitting on that very throne.

LISTEN to “Krigsdøger” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Gjendød on Facebook here.