ALBUM REVIEW: Gnavhòl – Nordjevel

Askim’s NORDJEVEL have, perhaps more so than all but a handful of their fellow countrymen, experienced a meteoric rise within the Norway’s already world class black metal scene. Taking many of their cues from the wealth of excellent second wave acts to come out of Norway, and applying an aggressive and feral edge to it, they have managed, over the course of a couple of EPs and their first two albums, to cement their place at the peak of the new Norwegian scene in a relatively short space of time. The band’s latest, third album, Gnavhòl, may just be their strongest effort yet, and sees the four-piece at easily their leanest and most intense.

I Djevelens Skygge launches straight into a ferocious motif, with precise drumming serving as an excellent backdrop for acerbic guitars and acidic vocals. With its incredibly tight, polished sound, and a few chunkier guitar and bass hooks thrown into the mix, it acts as a great start to the record that sets the bar extremely high. Of Rats And Men possesses a similar musical bent, albeit with a few chaotic flourishes added. It’s a lengthier affair, but the band manage to inject enough twists and turns, along with a generous dose of catchy, melody-tinged leads, to help maintain the listener’s attention. Satan’s Manifest applies a slight dissonance to proceedings, lending a hypnotic edge to the guitars without stripping away any of the speed and aggression, with a few mid-tempo passages peppered throughout to give this song’s second half a huge, expansive feel.

Within The Eyes, another short sharp shock of caustic riffs, punishing drums and visceral vocals, may be one of the shorter tracks, but it still leaves its mark, with especially slick guitar lines and rabid moments establishing it as an early stand out. Gnavhòl shifts the music away from the blistering pace that has dominated up until now, opting for a slow, doom-laden sound with a few brief bursts of intricate drumming or thick chugging guitar work that return the music somewhat to the feral approach of the album’s earlier offerings. It’s a great piece of cavernous black metal that shows that even when they adopt a slower tempo, NORDJEVEL know how to craft a powerful, domineering sound.

Antichrist Flesh takes a streamlined approach to the monolithic sound of the previous track whilst imbuing the music with a faster, cacophonous side that takes the music back in the direction of bestial intensity. It’s a brilliant blending of the harsher and more accessible components within NORDJEVEL‘s sound that works extremely well. Spores Of Gnosis again sees the band move away from their core sound, with cleaner tones and a gradual build towards a ferocious crescendo, along with the use of fleeting, jarring riffs which lend a sense of urgency. The heaviness is still there, but flavoured with both dissonance and intricate flourishes in a way that many of the preceding songs aren’t. Gnawing The Bones is this album at arguably its most blistering, being rabid and unhinged unlike anything that has come before it, whilst still boasting a confident control of the various elements at play. The guitars and drums especially craft a vast, bellicose sound immediately, with the vocals providing a caustic accompaniment to this slab of black metal.

Endritual marks the true end of the record, a sprawling, slow burning affair with a dramatic, beguiling opening riff that blends melancholy and polished melodicism, all to a steady drum beat and subdued but sinister vocals. Just past the halfway mark it begins to morph into a darker, more ferocious song, with the pace quickening and the music taking an aggressive turn, without ever fully committing to it, resulting in a powerful, hypnotic climax to the record. The bonus track, Twisted Psychosis, although certainly a great piece of black metal with tight, frenetic musicianship, feels like an afterthought, and would definitely have been more impactful had it been placed somewhere in the middle of the album rather than at the very end.

Gnavhòl is one of those albums that perfectly captures all the best examples of just how imaginative and wide ranging modern black metal with a pronounced second wave influence can be when it is done correctly. Tying together energetic tempos, slick, melodic moments and outright, snarling emotion, it’s very hard not to get drawn in by the music on this album. At points, this is reminiscent of MARDUK in their more abrasive and belligerent moments, shifting seamlessly from one excellent hook to another with little to no filler present, leaving only lean and rabid black metal in its wake. It’s easily the very best record, full-length or otherwise, that NORDJEVEL have produced to date, and cements the band as arguably one of the best purveyors of modern Norwegian black metal.

Rating: 9/10

Gnavhòl is out now via Indie Recordings.

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