Gjendød – Livskramper

Band: Gjendød
Title: Livskramper
Label: Osmose Productions
Release date: June 28, 2024
Country: Norway
Format reviewed: CD Quality Digital Promo

Close your eyes and let the simple acoustic melody lure you into the forest. From the first harmonious chord, Gjendød channels the ambiguous power of the Huldra.

The whole album feels like a deep, dark forest. There are so many elements, so many surprises hidden in the vegetation, yet they all share the same earthy texture. Usually, I listen to albums while completing other tasks, but with Livskramper I find myself staring at a spot on the floor, forgetting what I was doing. There is something so alluring, so engaging in these songs, it is impossible to follow a line of thought.

Melodies come and go, clean and tragic with a clear smell of Nordic folksongs, but broken and scattered, like paths leading to nowhere. The riffs are regular and give a feeling of firm black metal ground to stand on, still they change in unexpected ways. Where the road was supposed to be is just another clearing, surrounded by more forest. I try to keep track of where I have been but soon, I realise the paths end in other paths, and I cross my own footprints. There is a hint of the smiling Huldra in the corner of my eye, and the chilling realisation that these trails were not trampled by human feet. I have no idea how far I have gone or in what direction. When I accept the loss of control and give up on my intellectual analysis I can truly give in to the pull of this enchanted forest.

The music is ever changing and melodic in a way that could have been catchy but isn’t. It is executing the classical black metal style so well it could have been generic, but it isn’t. It is inventive and evolving but in the subtle details rather than in the centre motifs.

The vocals add something human and something inhuman at the same time. They are dynamic and emotional but always high-pitched powerful fry screams. In them I feel human despair and striving. I also feel the cold of the underworld, that which cannot be spoken or seen, something that sends chills to my spine and make me want to start to run along these narrow paths in the dark.

The production is not overly polished but the person who did it must be a genius of black metal. The sense of raw nature comes through at all parts, still every individual instrument is audible on its own. When I follow one guitar, I can clearly hear the skill of the musician playing it, the fingers moving on the board. There are so many elements in this album it could have been an overdecorated mess, but it is perfect. The heavy and precise riffing, melodic scraps being tossed back and forth. The acoustic guitar that sometimes take over the telling of the story, and the slow wailing clean guitar that seems to tell a counter story, a different emotional core of the narrative that gives room for endless possibilities of interpretation. They all blend seamlessly. I don’t think about the elements, I see the forest and feel the old saga that is told in shadows and whispers, without hero or goal.

When the last song starts with circles and spirals, I feel a moment of panic, like the deer in the clearing suddenly knowing it has been promised to the hunter as a token of friendship by the Huldra. By then it is too late to run anyway. Sanity has been lost to the deep forest, lured away by the crying guitar and the voices from the underworld.

To me this is deeply spiritual music. I don’t find the lyrics anywhere, but the titles imply Nordic folklore. Nevertheless, the spirituality lies in the music itself. It doesn’t need liturgy or dogma. The sacred is in the altered state of consciousness, the loss of time and space and individuality that occurs during the listening, for the listener that gives their full attention and openness of mind to this album. In the sacred space of untamed and unlimited nature lies chaos. 10/10 by Ask Den Hängde

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10/10 Immortal Classic
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