Review: Blodfält – Evangelism
From the Crypt Review
Blodfält – Evangelism
Self-released, 2022
You never know what hidden gems you will come across when exploring the underground. Unblack metal, from its controversial beginnings with Horde and Antestor, has grown by such leaps and bounds that it’s hard to keep up with all the new music, let alone not miss out on many great releases.
Blodfält is a joint project between two musicians, Lord Enochian (better known as the musician behind the black/war metal band Satan Destroyer) and Mörtemiis (also currently in Casm). However, on this particular release, Mörtemiis handles all the vocals and instruments on her own.
Evangelism is atmospheric black metal, played in a classic second-wave style. The guitar work is thin, flowing, and hypnotic, yet razor-sharp and possessed of the high-treble sounds so often heard on raw black metal records. Mörtemiis has a vocal shriek similar to that of Teckmarion from Arch of Thorns (another primitive yet atmospheric unblack act), high-pitched and very raspy, complementing the music perfectly.
In some ways, though the music is not as full or lush as that played by Wolves in the Throne Room, stylistically, there are a lot of similarities between the trance-like drumming and riffing on Evangelism and that heard on Wolves classics like Diadem of Twelve Stars. Some people might feel pushed away by WitTR’s heavy emphasis on repetitive rhythms (especially as heard on their first three records), but that, for me, was part of the charm. So too with Blodfält. This isn’t music concerned with being flashy, not even by black metal standards. This is music to go for a walk in the woods to—preferably when it’s cold and gloomy.
Part of why I love this kind of black metal is its beautiful simplicity, despite all of its raw edges. Beginning with an intro that reminds me a little of “Mercy Lord” off of Antestor’s Martyrium, this short but sweet demo kicks into a kind of Elgibbor-ish mid-paced track entitled “Prepare for the Apocalypse” with some melancholic riffing interwoven into the main riff. “Lamentation of the Stricken Hermit” is the highlight for me, however. It gives me a similar feeling that I used to get from listening to Satyricon’s Dark Medieval Times—thin, cold, haunting, and almost out of time.
The last track, “Adonai Ori” (demo version), seems to be virtually the same song as “Prepare for the Apocalypse,” but follows a slightly different structure in parts. If it is indeed an early version of the aforementioned track, I have to say that I prefer it for its faster driving drum work and layered guitars.
Blodfält’s Evangelism may be short in length, but the music itself is very promising of good things to hopefully come. If you like a more wintry, medieval tone to your atmospheric black metal and appreciate a less is more approach, give Evangelism a try.
For Fans Of Arch of Thorns (early), Grot, Hulder (early), Wolves in the Throne Room
Listen on Bandcamp: Evangelism | Blodfält
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