Album Review: Doedsvangr – Within the Flesh

Band: Doedsvangr
Album: Within the Flesh
Label: Soulseller Records
Release date: April 10th 2026
Country: International (Norway / Finland / France)
Format reviewed: High-Quality Digital Recording

#AlbumReview: Doedsvangr – Within the Flesh via Soulseller Records by Ioana

Doedsvangr is yet another one of those bands that I have known of for quite a while, but never actually got the chance, nor the impulse, to sit down and check them out properly. Being familiar with two of the other project frontman, Doedsadmiral is part of, that being Horde of Hel and Nordjevel, I mistakenly assumed that Doedsvangr wouldn’t differ all that much from the previously mentioned bands. However, when looking more deeply into this band and the people part of it, I was pleasantly surprised to see Horna guitarist and mastermind Shatraug mentioned in the lineup. As one can imagine, that certainly piqued my interest, and, as a result, here we are all now.

However, there were a couple of aspects here and there which left me raising eyebrows, the first of which being the production. It is meant to appear raw, given the fuzz placed on the vocals and instrumentals, while at the same time coming off as almost too accessible. Somehow, the aforementioned effects cause the album to lean more towards the atmospheric side, than the punishing, harsh side it appears to be leaning on thematically, which creates a noticeable discrepancy between the lyrics, or better said, the message, and the music itself. This impression was further solidified by the album cover, which, despite it’s dramatic subject matter, comes off as almost too elegant.

On a slightly different note, however, there are a considerable amount of things that this album gets very well, one of them being songwriting. Two tracks that best exemplify what I am referring to are “Black Sun Dissolution” and “Omnipath”, both of which are characterized by a thoughtful balance between melody and dissonance when it comes to riffing. Both tracks, as well as the rest on the album typically leam on the short side, which makes all the musical changes and shifts in dynamics stand out more, as they are more compact. That, in turn, causes “Within the Flesh” to have a specific type of momentum, which creates interest for the listener as the album progresses. I certainly found myself charmed by the guitar work on “Omnipath” in particular. Those who have listened to the album already surely know what I am referring to.

One aspect of the album which I consider flawless, however, is the drumming. Performed by Christian Håpnes Svendsen of avant garde metal band Beaten to Death, they capture the spirit of the album extremely well, as well as adding more open doors in terms of technique. There are a lot of death metal adjacent moments present in the drumming, as well as influences from the avant-garde/progressive strains of the genre, but not to the point of discrepancy. What else can I say, I found myself pleasantly surprised.

All in all, “Within the Flesh” is a solid album, and I have no doubt that longtime fans of Doedsvangr will find a lot of enjoyable aspects in it, but personally speaking, even in my multiple listens of the album, I had trouble connecting with it, mainly due to the dissonance between music and lyrics which I mentioned earlier. However, I enjoyed quite a few parts of it to a considerable extent, so… credit be given where credit is due, I am probably not the best person to speak on this band (Although “Omnipath” is starting to grow on me quite a bit… hmmm)… 8/10

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9,5/10 Epic Storm
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