Aftermath Music, 2018
Genre: Black Metal
1. Saa begynner det
2. Her er ikke spor af mennensker
3. De danser rundt soperlimet som om den var deres mor
4. Paa vintersti skal hun synge en gravsang som aldrig ender
5. Naa er hele livet paa ravnens bord
6. Det svartner paa likbleik hud
7. I denne gamle falne kirke
8. Banker som doedningeknoker
9. Alt som her var er naa borte
The new Djevel has finally reached my hands from across the ocean and, naturally, I was really looking forward to this. This album is, once again, published by Aftermath Music and there were two editions of the CD released. One was a limited box edition, but I decided to opt for the standard edition. It's more like an elaborate cardboard sleeve edition called a "digisleeve" rather than a proper digipak release. Inside one sleeve you find the CD and in the other the booklet. The booklet is quite the minimalistic design, but it really does work splendidly with the overall design. Inside you'll find the lyrics over a white background and that's it. When you open the digisleeve it has a picture of the band members with an informational section.
If you've listened to Djevel before you know what to expect, but if this is your first experience with the project you're in for a real treat. However, some people may be disappointed to find there have been some line-up changes. Their long time vocalist Hjelvik has decided to leave the band and Mannevond will add vocals to his duties alongside bass. Dirg Rep has also given up the drum throne and now Faust is sitting behind it. The album starts with a beautiful acoustic folk styled intro, which really sets the atmospheric tone for the album. I've always said Djevel was a like a blend of Ulver, old Gorgoroth, and old Satyricon and "Blant svarte graner" really holds that torch higher than any of their other albums. As before they take that old style Black Metal from the heart of the 90's and curate it perfectly. It's not exactly modernized, but it just sounds so much more full. A lot of that might have to do with modern production value, but "Blant svarte graner" holds the old guard spirit at its heart and just sounds exquisite overall.
If you grew up with the early 90's Norwegian Black Metal scene then this will feel like quite the homecoming. T. Ciekals really outdid himself with the guitar compositions this time around. I'm sure this album will land somewhere in my top 10 this year, because it really is that glorious. The real question is going to be where could the project possibly go from here? Personally, I'd be pretty happy with a string of albums similar to this to sit comfortably given how outstanding this riff work is. Absolute must by for Black Metal fans!
Aftermath Music, 2016
Genre: Black Metal
1. Vi slakter den foerste og den andre, den tredje lar vi gaa mot nord
2. Jeg maner eder alle
3. Doedskraft og tri nagler
4. Med christi legeme og blod under hoeire fod
5. Til mitt kjaere Norge
6. Med tornespiger var han haengt
7. Maatte vetter rase som aldrig foer
8. Afgrunds Engle
After just one year Djevel return with a brand new album. Usually when the turn around for a new album is this quick I'd worry that the material might be too quickly written, but "Norske Ritualer" puts those worries to rest upon hitting play immediately. "Norske Ritualer" comes packaged as a sort of digi-sleeve package. While the packaging is nice and the layout is well designed, I hate this kind of packaging. It may be cost effective, but have the CD in a slip case instead of a tray is, frankly, annoying to deal with. So, I'm hoping the packaging will be a bit better for the next album.
In any event, the music on here is extremely good. It's an immediate attention grabber and opens with an absolutely wonderful song. While the prior Djevel's felt a lot like a celebration of the best Norwegian Black Metal ever created, "Norske Ritualer" seems to actually build on those ideas and push things a little more. This album sees Djevel sort of coming into their own and building on their influences. The opening track reminds me a bit of a continuation of "Nattens Madrigal", which made for an excellent listen! Not to be forgotten, the second track delves into more of their Folk inspired Black Metal, hearkening to a bit of old Satyricon/Storm, but with some groove thrown in similar to what Isvind has pulled off in their music. "Norske Ritualer" tends to meander around these two main focal points, but none of it feels like it's a complete re-hash of what we've all been listening to for the past few decades. I think this album leans more heavily in the Ulver direction, especially with the beautifully played acoustic interludes.
If you've been following Djevel for a while then I doubt you will ever be disappointed with how excellent this album is. If you're new to the band, you're really in for a treat. This is a real monster of an album and so wonderfully executed. Unless Djevel puts out something better, this is probably going to be my "go to" Djevel album when I want to listen to this band. Every songs is an excellent journey and feels more than just a reconstitution of the old material. Definitely an amazing job and I really look forward to wherever else this project takes their style.
Aftermath Music, 2015
Genre: Black Metal
1. Skritt for skritt mot mareritt
2. Vaar forbannede jord
3. Hode og hals i doedsvals
4. Om prest og pest
5. Norges land og rike
6. I en iskald grav
7. De som hadde onde oeyne
8. Salmesang og knokkelklang
9. Saa raa og kald
10. I vaar herres navn...
After improving a bit with the second effort, I'm not surprised to say things have stayed quite good with "Saa raa og kald". I don't think there has been much improvement, but rather a consistent excellence that persisted throughout the last album. This time we get a bit more of an elaborate booklet with some extra pictures that compliment the listening experience. It's really beautifully made even if it is quite simple.
At first glance this album feels a bit more raw than the prior releases, and that's more of a production observation than anything else. It sort of makes this album feel older than the prior two in that regard. This album also intro's a little strange with a meandering bass line for the first song before launching into the usual Black Metal style for the next song. It's pretty rare to find anything intro with just the bass, usually we hear that as a break in the middle of a song. Either way, the songs maintain that usual feel of Norwegian Black Metal, being sometimes folky, most of the time being standard Black Metal. I notice they try to include some clean guitar sections a lot more than compared to the prior albums. Some of the riffs are way catchier than before, such as in the song "Norges land og rike" and reminds me a bit of the old Taake days to some degree. The guitar tone has shifted a little bit, as far as I can tell. The guitar tone sounds quite a bit more like a Gorgoroth of Dødheimsgard feeling to the guitar. I think this makes the Gorgoroth influence stand out quite a bit more when it happens.
In the end Djevel continue their signature celebration of all things classic Black Metal, but this time I feel like there is a distinct infusion of the Dødheimsgard sound a little bit with a further more heavy dose of Gorgoroth. All the songs are quite enjoyable and I don't think there is a bad track on this release, so if you want to hear an updated version of the early Black Metal years with an extremely solid performance then this album will not disappoint.
Aftermath Music, 2013
Genre: Black Metal
1. Besatt av maane og natt
2. Aapne graver og tomme kister
3. Marefar
4. Tornekroner og geitehorn
5. Blant fjell og falne
6. Stjernesluker
7. ...Og englene dinglet fra galgene
8. Saa tok alt slutt
After a very good debut Djevel return with their second album. There was a demo 7" released on vinyl between the two, but I'm skipping out on that since both songs on the vinyl appear on here. This comes as a digipac with a very minimalist booklet, but it really does work well for the whole layout of this release.
Already Djevel has had a slight change in the line-up and the drums are now being handled by Dirge Rep. Naturally, given his experience, the drums are done masterfully on the album and his arrangements compliment the guitars wonderfully. Djevel, pretty much, pick up where Dødssanger left us, playing really well made Norwegian styled Black Metal. I think there has been a bit of refinement in the overall writing, because the songs feel even more compelling than before. All the major influences I referenced on the first album are still present on this recording as well, but they're a little less blatant, instead the influences are combined far more cohesively in the writing. This makes Djevel sound a lot more as being on their own and the influences are a more subtle ever present feel in the music. The songs manage to have a bit more of an epic feel at times, such as "Stjernesluker" and I've noticed this element show up in a couple other areas. Not like the Ulver more sorrowful feel, but something akin to what Enslaved would pull off or Keep of Kalessin, which makes for a very excellent element to put into the mix.
Once again Djevel is like a celebration of everything I grew up with in the Norwegian Black Metal scene, but distilled into a single band and playing only the best of the genre. It's surprising that they manage to improve on this approach, but somehow they've managed to work it out. I'm looking forward to even more from this project at this point, because if they manage to keep doing this it will make for a really pleasant journey.
Aftermath Music, 2011
Genre: Black Metal
1. Ingen vei tilbake
2. Djevelheim
3. Mørkerfødt
4. Da kvinnene brant
5. Djevelslått
6. Paakallelsen
7. Vi malte verden i sort
8. Paktens ende - i Satans eie
Even though I listen to quite a few projects from all the musicians behind Djevel, I was really late to this project for some reason. I think I wound up listening to Djevel when I was looking something up about Koldbrann, which is a band I like quite a bit as well, so I took a chance and looked them up. I was immediately taken with their material an I swiftly tracked down and purchased everything I could from the project.
Djevel waste no time with demos and immediately dive right into the full-length territory. Given the caliber of musicians behind the project it makes sense for them to take this route, because I would be shocked if they produced something uninteresting. Some may find Djevel to perform fairly standard fair Norwegian Black Metal, but there's just something special about this material for to me. There's a quality, a higher caliber of writing and musicianship carved out through the years of playing Black Metal by all those involved. The end result is an immediate and mature effort that really celebrates the years of Black Metal. This works for a solid debut album for Djevel, as if the musicians gathered together to work on music that reminded of what influenced them in the past and put it down to permanence. Perhaps Djevel will further refine their sound and influences and meander into something more unique, but for now I will merely enjoy the time spent delving into the old times of Black Metal. This is like a more well recorded version of some of my favorite albums growing up in the mid-90's era of Black Metal. Each song has remnants of Enslaved, Darkthrone, Gorgoroth, and, I'm sure, others that have been lost to obscurity over the years. Or at least buried in my demo tape collections from that bygone era! Blended in with that it has a lot of old Satyricon, even moments that remind me of Storm a little bit and probably a decent dose of early Ulver.
In the end I think Djevel created an excellent debut that really covers the gamut of an older tier of Black Metal. The major complaint, I would imagine, from people would be that it doesn't sound like anything new. But this is wishful thinking for debut albums these in the overwhelming majority of cases. Frankly, I think Djevel write very good songs and compose with a masterful atmosphere for the genre. Djevel is certainly a band worth checking out and I'm eager to hear what might be next from this project.
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