If you ask me, there isn’t enough history in metal nowadays. Sure, we’ve seen a small surge of sorts from the many different styles from bands like 1914 and Minenwerfer (just to name two) coming out of the woodwork to give us a more much visceral approach than what we’d expect from the likes of bands like Sabaton. It’s been a fantastic change of pace in my opinion, and it was with their debut album last year that Ildskær gave us another example of it with a very specific period in history that has just as much impact, poignancy, and flair that makes it perfect for a black metal format.

Taking place right after the events that were retold in their debut album, Ildskær waste no time in picking up the story of the dwindling Dano-Norwegian fleet that was slowly being taken by them whether it be by British theft or attack after Denmark-Norway took to the waters with cannons in actual rowboats in sheer defiance of such overwhelming force. Victory was sparse for the defenders and the fires only grew for them as the last great ship in the Dano-Norwegian fleet, the Prinds Christian Frederick, fell, making the situation that Denmark-Norway found themselves in far more dire than before. Normally, we’d be looking for utterly brutal and extremely bloody subjects to depict through a vehicle like black metal, but how could one not be swayed by both Ildskær and “Paa Dækket Kalder de Døde”? An EP with just three tracks, you may think initially that there could be so much more to what Ildskær is bringing to the table, but I cannot stress enough how untrue such a statement is. In every form, “Paa Dækket Kalder de Døde” is a worthy successor to the full-length splash that we got last year from this act as we’re catered to the same attitude, pristine production, utterly intoxicating melodies and musicianship that mold perfectly with the fiery black metal that’s always on display, and a true finesse that’s all but irresistible in all of its forms. This almost 30-minute EP is so much of what everyone was drawn into by the first album with, and it would be downright criminal to insinuate that anything less was achieved within the glorious confines of “Paa Dækket Kalder de Døde”.

History is more than full of epic scenes that are more than worthy of metal performances with literally every year having dozens of events that are able to be competently made into such a format, and it’s with “Paa Dækket Kalder de Døde” that we see a continuation of that from an unlikely source. The Gunboat War is surely one of the last places that many of us would expect high quality black metal to be born from, but Ildskær continues to defy our expectations and deliver content that can only be considered stupendous from all angles.

“Paa Dækket Kalder de Døde” releases on March 22nd via Wolfspell Records!

LISTEN to Ildskær’s debut album on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Ildskær on Facebook here.