Iceland has become quite a location in recent years for its black metal scene and, honestly, I couldn’t think of a much better landscape than the style’s homeland of Scandinavia for such a harsh sound to call home. Much like Canada, the harsh terrain of the country serves oddly well to the cold and unforgiving riffage that black metal can bring to the table, and it’s a strand of the already diverse style that’s become quite a flavor for many fans. It’s very interesting to listen to once you let it take you over, and it’s with Sykelig Englen that we get a perfect example of such.

There are many times where I listen to black metal that tries to be simple like this and it comes across as just boring with the band in question feeling more like a lazy reincarnation of some great that they’ve come to worship, but it’s other times that a band comes along that can make simplicity sound like the most awesome thing in the fucking world. Sykelig Englen has not created an immaculate creation of that, but damn if “This Hollow Land” is anything but hollow! This single-man act stands proud amongst what’s likely an ocean of others as the Icelandic black metal scene is on a meteoric rise with a sound that’s not as lo-fi as it could be, but it hits in all the right areas in order to deliver a punch that’s as ice-cold as it is immensely sharp. It brings forth an experience that’s as scathing as it is somewhat capturing as “This Hollow Land” constantly churns with darkness and small brilliance in such fashion that it’s hard to not see the greatness that Sykelig Englen could easily employ in future releases should he hone his craft in just the right way.

This entire EP is cold, unforgiving, and interesting to a grand degree with all four tracks of “This Hollow Land” being the exact sort of representation that Icelandic black metal could ever need for any newcomer to the style with it being both new and incredibly familiar. It’s put Sykelig Englen on the map in a great display that’s nothing to scoff at whatsoever and is something to eagerly to await a follow-up of.

LISTEN to “This Hollow Land” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Sykelig Englen on Facebook here.