I’ve gone on record multiple times to this point to do what I normally don’t and proclaim a specific band as one of the most essential of its kind in this century with it being a beyond-appealing act that doesn’t just strike on all the right chords of new black metal fans, but fans who’ve been around since the beginning. Never once has Dødsferd disappointed in its vast discography that spans twenty long years now, and it’s finally now that the entity feels it time to revisit what some believe to be their magnum opus. “Suicide and the Rest of Your Kind Will Follow” is a staggering work that’s a true highlight for the band and a turning point in some eyes, and while some may think a sequel release would sully the original’s reputation, I don’t think it will take much to convince you otherwise.

I could sit here for paragraphs typed over hours why Dødsferd is possibly one of the most essential black metal band not just out of Greece but out of the entire European scene at large, but that’s a bold statement I will let others claim as I’ve yet to even hear one negative thing about this band in all of its different forms across its library of releases. The single most fascinating aspect of what I’ve always found alluring about every release from Dødsferd single-handedly has to be the raw, unbridled emotion that’s the very core of what each performance grows forth from without shame or bashfulness for what all is being put out into the world for all of us to hear. That’s something that plenty of other contemporary acts have tapped into, but it’s through a real knack for quality, atmosphere, aggression, and a diverse sound that Dødsferd always manages to come on top such that their already deadly sound has been getting sharpened for years now with each release seeming better than the last. As such, it’s only natural that when Dødsferd chose to revisit this territory that is brought forth to create the otherworldly beast of raw fury and disgust that is “Suicide and the Rest of Your Kind Will Follow II”.

Just to say that this album is quite good would be to spit in the face of its creators of their sleepless nights and fervent writing sessions that were made to truly create a work that can embody the frustration, sadness, anger, and contempt for all that this rotten world is hurdling towards every single day as we collectively seem to be digging our own graves deeper and deeper. But, despite what the name might have you consider, this is not some uncoordinated venture into the bleakest corners of the human soul with just rage being the only guiding light. Rather, it’s for the whole of performance that Dødsferd doesn’t just let it become some incoherent work of fury, but a methodical descent into endless misery as we see the world of the creator’s perspective, and it’s far from a pleasant sight. “Suicide and the Rest of Your Kind Will Follow II” is a magnificently layered experience that takes you through so many levels of dread, fury, and horror all born out of our current reality, and it’s only through apex musicianship that we can get through this onslaught of this whirlwind that one would be hard to turn away from between the riffs, the atmospheres, the power, and the emotion that’s oozing out of every minute that Dødsferd puts forth. It makes for a truly enrapturing work that compels you to listen to it again and again to really bathe in all that it offers as Dødsferd not only lives up to the album’s predecessor but their reputation with this effortlessly being one of the most compelling works of unyielding black metal that I’ve heard all year and I’d bet money that none will be able to top this.

Going into any new work for Dødsferd, it’s a must that I go into the work as objectively as I can since I don’t want my affinity for what the band has accomplished in the past to blind me for a new experience and possible unfortunate reality, but I have yet to find myself saddened by what I’ve heard with “Suicide and the Rest of Your Kind Will Follow II” being the exact kind of hateful work that’s simultaneously gorgeous to behold that many of us have been needing. The reputation of Dødsferd needed no boost at its twentieth anniversary, but it’s still irrefutable to deny the utter power and raw anger that’s beholden within “Suicide and the Rest of Your Kind Will Follow II” such that I will be insulted if this goes unheard throughout the scene at large, and I will damn myself before I let that happen.

“Suicide and the Rest of Your Kind Will Follow II” releases on August 10th via Fucking Your Creation Records!

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