If you’ve read any reviews of the Danish band Slægt you’ll be aware that the band are endorsed by none other than Tomas Lindberg, the voice of melodic death metal legends At the Gates. As the man says: “When I think of heavy metal, there is a certain feeling I am after. A special haunting, emotional impact that I’m seeking. Nowadays, with a total over-saturation of new bands, I will always be super excited when I get that same feeling that was there when I first got into underground metal. Slægt is one of those rare examples.”
With their roots firmly in black metal, there’s a heavier, more classic sound to the Copenhagen quartet who first formed in 2011. By all s, the band has evolved, with this album their most mature and measured release to date. There is something a bit special about this album, from the gruff vocal roar of singer Oskar J. Frederiksen who also delivers the brutally low-end guitars, the thumping engine room of Olle Bergholz and drummer Adam CCSquele and the shredding lead work of Anders M Jorgensen.
There’s a nice level of gothic darkness that permeates across the 40 minutes on offer, with the power of opener “Deceived by An Amethyst” making an instant impression. There is a myriad of other bands that you can draw from Slægt’s sound, but what makes them unique is how they manage to blend all those influences into one very individualistic sound.
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Track two, the rampaging “Kiss from A Knife” is raw, raucous black metal with an underlying craziness that pushes it towards the likes of Venom, Midnight, and Devastator. It’s black ‘n’ roll carnage with guitar leads that threaten to career out of control at the drop of a hat. A huntsman’s horn sounds the start of the explosive “Hunt Again” and like all tracks featured on Goddess, there’s an earthy context to each song, a little dirt unde the fingernails never hurt anyone after all. “Hunt Again” is a rip-roaring track, semi-thrash in power with the by now familiar gravel-soaked lyrics spat out with venom. The lyrics are tremendous, conjuring up visual imagery of the four horsemen riding through the gates of Hell and back to Earth to kill again.
A short instrumental interlude featuring piped organ entitled “Stabat Bloody Stabat” paves the way for the monstrous finale on this fine album. Yes, the 11-minute title track that concludes matters. We use epic too often when reviewing but this is a song that is ideally suited to darkened concert halls with its progressive elements that slowly build in dramatic style, twin guitar harmonies and eruptions of molten black metal combining in glorious majesty. It’s a fitting conclusion to an album and it’s no wonder that Lindberg is such a fan.
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Goddess was released on 18th March
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