When many of us think of black metal, our brains immediately wretch to the wooded, frosty mountains of Scandinavia with all that they’ve done for the style since its very inception to the deepest recesses of what the style has to old in the modern era. Given how vast and varied the style has become today, to see any band achieve the classic sound that has been ever so popular in recent years is to come across an act that actually knows what they’re doing, and it is always a sight to behold. Despite only coming into existence two years ago and having only one demo to their name before this, the previous experience of this duo does absolute wonders when it comes to the creation of Skarntyde’s first full-length albums which is everything we could’ve asked for.

A raw and vastly unrefined form of black metal is something that has become spectacularly coveted in recent times since the foundations of such a sound can be achieved relatively easily by anyone who can analyze the style in any sort of capacity, but to actually make it work with the proper power and potency to match without coming across as a stale copy is to really find yourself succeeding where several others failed effortlessly. In virtually every form without question, it’s in the nine tracks of “Flukt fra Menneskelighten” that Skarntyde achieves such an impressive feat seemingly without breaking a single sweat. Just about everything we could ask for out of this style is brought to light throughout every one of these tracks whether it be icy riffage, acoustic passages that capture the very frost in the air, or the naturalistic theme and concept that have become all but interwoven with all that is black metal since the mid-90s with the very execution of what Skarntyde has achieved here being more than enough to show us why they’re a need-to-hear band for any fan of the second wave of black metal out of Norway whose impact is still doing wonders for us. It makes one wonder how the style hasn’t run its course yet with it very much being a sound that’s deeply trenched in the trends of the past with virtually no change since its infancy, but then you have but to witness bands like Skarntyde and albums like “Flukt fra Menneskelighten” to realize why it’s still going as strong as it is.

This is a work that’s as true to the original sound as it is fun to listen to from every angle, and it’s at the end of the day which determines why many of us keep coming back so long as bands like Skarntyde keep coming around to be experienced. The very essence of “Flukt fra Menneskelighten” can be tracked back to the CD shelves in Norway in the mid-90s with there being no shred of compromise for modernity in the crafting of this record to instantly make for a fantastic experiences rooted in the very foundations of black metal with all but the trees and the mountains as our company during this excursion.

LISTEN to “Flukt fra Menneskelighten” on Bandcamp here.