DJEVELKULT - Nar Avgrunnen Apnes

Release date May 25/18 (Saturnal)

One look at the album cover, depicting what looks like misbegotten folk falling from purgatory (or heaven?) while being tormented by winged/horned beasts, immediately speaks of what one faces when imbibing in Djevelkult's sophomore full length. Yep, blasphemous Norwegian black metal with nary a whisper of melody.

Multi-faceted, but in your face and often blast-furnaced, this is traditional blackness straight out of the second wave. Each track has multiple movements and tempos, eschewing the one-dimensional wall-of-sound approach. Guitars weave in and out, while the rhythm section firmly lays down the bedrock. Meanwhile, tortured howls and rasp cackles are buried in the mix, sounding like someone trying to crawl out from underneath two stories of rubble, while being serenaded by Hell's Philharmonic.

Djeveljult may not be introducing anything new to the metal world, but they sure as hell will appeal to the goat-worshiping masses. For fans of Tsjuder, Ragnarok and Setherial.

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