Kjeld and Wederganger are both black metal bands from the Netherlands. They have teamed up for this split release.
Kjeld are the opening band on this split. 2015’s Skym was cold and evil black metal in the Scandinavian style. On this release they contribute 17 minutes of music in the form of three songs. Continue reading “Kjeld/Wederganger – Split (Review)”
Laster are a black metal band from the Netherlands and this is their second album.
We’ve met Laster before, both on their debut album De Verste Verte Is Hier and on their split with Wederganger. Both times they’ve impressed with their atmospheric black metal, and this continues with their newest release. Continue reading “Laster – Ons Vrije Fatum (Review)”
Wederganger and Laster both play black metal and are both from the Netherlands. They have teamed up for this very tasty split.
Wederganger contribute one song, Klaroenen Van de Dood, lasting almost 15 minutes. They’ve been featured on this site before with their début album Halfvergaan Ontwaakt, which was an enjoyable listen that fused orthodox black metal with epic, folk influences.
On this split the band show their predilection for Darkthrone/Satyricon-styled grooves Continue reading “Wederganger/Laster – Split (Review)”
Wederganger are a Black Metal band from the Netherlands. This is their début album.
This is largely mid-paced Black Metal with a haunting, mystical sound. They have a knack for combining typically dark Black Metal auras with more hopeful/heroic feelings to create music that is a double-edged blade, with one side sounding evil and malevolent and the other sounding epic and heroic.
Let’s start things off by saying that this is a damn fine record, with strong songs and interesting ideas.
The vocals combine strangled screams and confident cleans. These work with the dual nature of the music to create an atmosphere that’s both epic and grim. You can kind of think of it as Darkthrone meets Bathory, with probably a little more of the former in their sound rather than the latter. Either way, it results in Halfvergaan Ontwaakt sounding a bit different to the usual Black Metal norm, which is to be commended.
Wederganger continue in this vein for just under 44 minutes, working their black magic on the listener and weaving a spell that’s quite enticing. Their interesting take on Black Metal is infectious and it’s quite clear that the formula they’ve developed on Halfvergaan Ontwaakt works. These are enjoyable songs that perfectly straddle the boundaries of Orthodox Black Metal and epic, Folk Black Metal.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable release that uses two very old styles as its musical base, allowing the band freedom to create their own vision of what Black Metal should be.
And do you know what? Their vision looks pretty damn good.
Favourite Track: Dodendans. Perfectly judged, sorrowful cleans with just the right amount of vigour, powerful leads and a hypnotic, crawling delivery make this track a winner among a wealth of strong songs.
Wonderbox Metal 