EP REVIEW: Offerdier – Ossaert
In the harsher corners of the black metal scene, the ones that draw much more heavily from the genre’s embryonic early 90s heyday, it’s very rare for a band to come along that feels as though they are providing something distinct and fresh to this tried and tested sound. For every impressive act that is genuinely using an old school black metal template as a vehicle for adventurous and imaginative ideas, there’s at least a hundred second rate, second wave-esque bands knocking out bland offerings that invoke the likes of DARKTHRONE without capturing much, if any, of the qualities that made those bands and albums stand the test of time. OSSAERT, a one man act from the Netherlands, is one of those few exceptions that’s genuinely putting out excellent records, with the band’s 2020 debut album Bededhuis, and the equally impactful Pelgrimsoord in 2021, standing as some of the best and most captivating raw black metal to be released in recent memory. Their new EP Offerdier is another fantastic slab of black metal brilliance tempered with some ominous dungeon synth that further cements this band’s reputation as one of the underground’s best new acts.
De Lichtkrans En De Waan is a driven, powerful start to the record, with thunderous drums and hypnotic, soaring guitars setting a spartan tone early on as domineering, throaty vocals add a dense edge to the music on offer. Coupling these punchy, soaring qualities with the stark rawness of the production, this is a great piece of black metal with a classic sound and lots of inventive melodicism that help to make this lengthy and adventurous opener impressive throughout. Where this first offering was tight and grandiose, Ritueel I proves to be a far more minimalist affair, built around huge percussion and haunting synths, injecting a deeply atmospheric air into this record that is, as the title suggests, far more ritualistic than its predecessor, remaining catchy and memorable for entirely different reasons.
Ritueel II follows in a similar vein, with ethereal synth hooks providing a dramatic feel, and a few minor drum passages adding a booming, bombastic undercurrent that complements the previous track whilst being distinct in its own right. Het Geschenk En Het Bestaan is a dark, brooding slab of mid-paced black metal centred around steady drum beats, rumbling bass hooks and ponderous, bleak guitars, with an equally subdued but nonetheless acerbic vocal coming in as it progresses to lend a solid atmospheric black metal quality to proceedings. This is a track that always feels as though it is building towards some huge crescendo that it never reaches, creating a suspense that helps make this last song a lot more engrossing than it otherwise might have been.
Offerdier, not unlike the two albums that have preceded it, is a great example of how to write raw black metal that is far from formulaic, adding enough variety into the mix to help keep things interesting in a way that many other acts performing in a similar style often fail to – no small feat considering that this is a one man act that has been fairly prolific in the last three years. The juxtaposition between classic black metal and dungeon synth is nothing new by any stretch of the imagination, but here this combination of styles feel as though it complements the narrative of the record rather than being hastily added to added to inject a thin layer of musical depth to equally thin and uninspired music. As OSSAERT‘s status grows with each new record, P. is beginning to establish himself as one of the genre’s best underground musicians internationally, and this EP is no exception. Hopefully, with album number three, the sort of music heard on Offerdier will be explored more thoroughly.
Rating: 8/10
Offerdier is out now via Argento Records.
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