Peaceville Records, 2014
Genre: Black Metal
1. Myr
2. Skogens øye
3. Ravnestrupe
4. Dommens armé (Sepultura cover)
5. Til endes
6. Det dunkle dyp
7. Avund
8. Bengitt
It's actually been so long since we've heard from Khold that I, honestly, thought the project was done. But then a couple years ago a new Tulus surfaced and then a couple years later a new Khold was announced. Being a fan of the project I naturally picked up my copy as soon as it was released. When I first put this on, I don't think I gave it the appreciation it really deserved. "Til endes" is very much a Khold album through and through, but their are some subtle differences that make this album really stand out for me.
"Til endes" is the album I wanted "Hundre år gammal" to be. Those freezing Black Metal riffs are back in force on this album! They certainly haven't lost their groove at all and this album is more akin to their early releases. One of the major differences between this album and the earlier is how much harder it seems to hit. The songwriting hasn't changed for the most part, so I think a lot of that hard hitting feel has more to do with the production this time around. That being said, "Til endes" is, basically, the perfect production quality for a Khold album. The drum mix alone is astonishing. Everything things is so punchy and clear that it just makes those groovier riffs hit so much harder. I feel like this studio did a much better job of dealing with the bass guitar mix, which also stands out and just hits a lot harder. They've always had some interesting bass sections show up, but the bass tone feels so much heavier and clear this time around. So, if you've been following the project for a while, you're in for a real treat this time around, because the overall listening experience is simply excellent. For the first time they've also done a cover song and if you recognized "Dommens armé" as "Troops of Doom" by Sepultura you are correct. Khold have recast the song in their style a little bit, while still staying fairly true to the original, but it is no doubt a Black Metal version of that song.
"Til endes" is by far the heaviest Khold album out there and I enjoyed every song on here. They kept an excellent balance of fast Black Metal riffs blended with groove just like the good old days. The song "Det dunkle dyp" is by far one of the stand out tracks for me. It has a catchiness that is unrivaled on the album. It's a shame I didn't give this album the time it really deserved when it came out, but a few years later I really took the time to listen to this and it really stands out in their discography as far as I'm concerned.
Tabu Recordings, 2008
Genre: Black Metal
1. Der kulden rår
2. Kor
3. Hundre år gammal
4. Troløs
5. Forrykt
6. Rekvim
7. Villfaren
8. Sann ditt svik
9. Mester og trell
10. Straff
11. Bønn
It's actually been quite a while since we've heard from Khold, some of that probably has to do with the fact that the members have also resurrected Tulus from the ashes and put out an album last year. However, this year we have a new Khold and after my lackluster experience with "Krek" I was hoping for something a little better.
"Hundre år gammal" is actually pretty similar in approach to "Krek", but the compositions work way more this time around. They finally figured out how to write more slow and plodding songs with groove and atmosphere. A lot of the songs on "Krek" felt disjointed or just fell flat, but "Hundre år gammal" has that atmosphere and power that I've come to expect from Khold. Personally, I prefer their faster material over this, but I can't deny the fact that they've figured out how to write material that sounds more cohesive this time around. I think they wanted to create a far heavier album and you can really create that kind of crushing feel with slower songs and the problems on "Krek" were probably related to the fact that they were an over productive band and writing material too much. With the space and a Tulus album in between I think it gave them the time to refocus Khold and put out the album they really were intending with the way "Krek" sounded.
In the end "Hundre år gammal" is a good album, but it's not a great album and is probably going to be somewhat low on the Khold rotation. I preferred more of a blend between their faster riffing and the slow grooves, but this album is heavily dominated by the slow groove and only a few moments here and there speed up. I'm just rarely in the mood for that type of music, thus I don't even listen to Doom Metal, but if what I've described sounds intriguing to you then this is an album worth checking out because it is well written and very well performed.
Tuba Records, 2005
Genre: Black Metal
1. Innestengt i eikekiste
2. Oskorei
3. Byrde
4. Lysets Flukt
5. Grepet om kniven
6. Midvinterblot
7. Varde
8. Silur wie
9. Krek
10. Blod og blek
I remember when "Krek" originally came out and I really felt like the prior album had just come out and I had barely even begun to delve into it. This is how I usually wind up feeling when listening to highly productive bands, it's hard to keep up with them and everything else that gets released. So, that being said, I think "Krek" is the Khold album that I've barely ever listened to, so re-listening to it again is an interesting journey.
If you've been following Khold so far, then "Krek" doesn't really change things up that much. "Krek" is a little different compared to the prior albums in the sense that most of the album is much more focused on groove. The first two songs, for example, have almost none of your standard Black Metal passages, just really intense grooving riffs cast in a Black Metal atmosphere. I'm not sure how "Krek" will measure up in the grand scheme of things, while I do enjoy their groovier ideas, I do also like how they switch into blasting moments to create this really interesting listening experience. In some ways it makes sense that they would want to switch things up a little bit at this point, but they've dropped a lot of the traditional Black Metal that made their blend a more exciting listen. Instead this feels like a far more mid-paced release and has a sort of droning groove effect. What I mean, is that they sort of set this groove and just stick with it for the majority of the album, so the groove starts to fade into the background more. They do switch things up a little bit with songs like "Lysets Flukt" which features this really awesome opening riff with blasting under it, but the rest of the riffs groove and the middle outright slows down to Doom Metal levels.
"Krek" is also probably the shortest of the Khold albums so far with it only being about a half hour in length. So, even though the album doesn't seem to command as much attention as prior albums, the riffs switch up often enough so things don't drag on for too long. I feel like they were really focused on groove and heavy riffs this time around. Some of the riffs are outright excellent in their catchiness, but sometimes I'm not sure the surrounding riffs pull the song together. Consider "Midvinterblot", which is sort of a Doomy and heavy song, but there's this killer groove section in there that I just wish was in a different song. I don't feel like their groove complements the heavy crushing riffs. However, I will say the title track and "Blod og blek" are awesome songs. They definitely stand out as being excellent songs all the way through.
In the end, even though this album is far shorter, I'm not sure this one held up to the test of time or the rest of their discography so far. I understand doing something a little different from before, but the slow heavy riffing just made the songs feel more boring to me. The attempt to switch the energy around in their writing didn't work for me and I think some of these superb riffs may have been sacrificed when they could have appeared in better songs. Maybe at this point the band had been over-writing and the solid ideas aren't hitting as hard. For a Khold album I would say this is only okay, but I'll probably be choosing other albums over this in the future.
Candlelight Records, 2004
Genre: Black Metal
1. Åtselgraver
2. Død
3. Niflheimr
4. Hevenerske
5. Med Nebb og Klør
6. Mørke Gravers Kammer
7. Opera Seria
8. Sjeleskjender
9. Vardøger
10. Kamp
I was surprised to see that Khold was no longer working with Moonfog for their releases and is instead being picked up by Candlelight for their albums. However, it was shortly after this that Moonfog would stop putting out new releases altogether, so maybe the bands on the roster started looking a lot earlier. Well either way, when I saw new Khold released I was looking forward to another heavily groove laden Black Metal album.
If you've been following Khold so far then "Mørke Gravers Kammer" is just another step along that journey. At this point some people may find Khold's approach to repetitive, but to me these people also go listen to bands like Marduk and Dark Funeral who have been releasing the same album style over and over for quite some time. I'll be honest, Khold isn't something I have in constant rotation, but sometimes I really enjoy listening to it for what it is. It's always been a really different take on Black Metal, so even though this new album is similar to the prior albums, I still quite enjoy it. They write new enough riffs to not feel overwhelmingly the same as prior releases. They are stuck in a rut a bit when it comes to some of their open chord riffs where they then single pick the strings, similar to a "Freezing Moon" idea. However, I think all Black Metal bands are basically re-hashing that at this point, so no big deal. Khold excels at putting their listener in a very specific space with their music and it's so well done that other bands who often try to pull this often fail. Khold is one of those bands that are unlikely to ever be reproduced, so I'll revel in the continued style album after album.
In the end Khold continue to put out a high quality product with great atmosphere. The production just gets better each album, which further enhances the experience. Gard's vocals still stand as perfection within the framework of this band. If you've been a fan already, you know what to expect.
Moonfog Productions, 2002
Genre: Black Metal
1. Dødens grøde
2. Skjebnevette
3. Hekseformular i vev
4. Phantom
5. Fra grav til mørke
6. Døde fuglers sang
7. Slaktereika
8. Ord i flammer
9. Vandring
Right on the heels of "Masterpiss of Pain" Khold return with their second album "Phantom". Sometimes when you crank albums out this fast things can begin to stagnate. Is this just a "Masterpiss of Pain" part two? Or something entirely different. Was the band just sitting on a ton of unreleased material? The latter might be the case, but I think there's an argument for that not being true. Either way time to delve into "Phantom."
With the first album Khold set a pretty impressive precedent for their sound and "Phantom" certainly continues that concept and journey. So, for the quick assessment, if you enjoyed "Masterpiss of Pain" there's no reason you wouldn't enjoy "Phantom". Now we just have more music from a great project. However, "Phantom" is a little bit of a different animal. The signature groove laden riffing is certainly the main focus of the project and that's everything in "Phantom", but the overall structure and atmosphere feels a little different. With the release of the self titled Thorns album in 2001, I think it had a lot of bands reminiscing about that project and "Phantom" really borrows a lot of influence from the way Ruch approaches guitar and bass. So, this feels like a much groovier version of Thorns, especially the opener "Dødens grøde". Not every song sounds like this, but you'll hear hints of those Thorns inspired chords or progressions throughout this album. It's interesting that amidst this mid-paced groove laden album we'll come across a song like "Fra grav til mørke", which is a much faster song complete with blasting and having a far more traditional Norwegian Black Metal approach and feel. However, it's not long before we are back to the heavy grooves of before.
It's interesting to note that even though Khold changed studios for this album, they still managed to capture that incredible organic, untouched feel to their music. Amidst all the new digital tricks coming into the norm for extreme metal, Khold manages to record some of the most organic, yet fullest and heaviest sounding material around. Their music feels like it has real weight behind it, not because they are writing crushing riffs, but because the production and the way they layer their songs just sounds huge.
"Phantom" is largely another march down the path of amazing things you can do by keeping things simple. Some people might find this as a rather derivative journey in the face of the first album, but the songs do sound quite different, even though the core sound is here. I can see why some people would say Khold sounds boring, but I find their music exciting and it just pulls me in every time I put this great band on. I'll be pretty surprised if we get another release in 2003, but taking some time to write might be a good thing for the project. Either way, even if their next album is similar to these two, I'll still be happy with them and look forward to whatever is coming next.
Moonfog Productions, 2001
Genre: Black Metal
1. Nattpyre
2. Den store allianse
3. Norne
4. Svart helligdom
5. Rovnatt
6. Kaldbleke Hender
7. Bortvandring
8. Mesterverk av smerte
9. Jol
10. Øyne i arv
By the time 2001 rolled around I was already a pretty loyal follower of Moonfog Productions as Satyr had established himself as having quite a discerning ear for great Black Metal. So, before I even knew who was behind Khold I had run out and got my hands on a copy of this CD, I didn't really have any expectations going in and aside from the album title, "Masterpiss of Pain", being kind of stupid I was immediately taken in by this project.
Now, to really get a good idea of what Khold would sound like, you just need to look up where the members are from. Tulus. Tulus released some of the grooviest and most simplistic Black Metal around and "Pure Black Energy" will forever be a timeless recording in my eyes. However, after "Evil 1999" maybe Tulus was being put to rest and so a new project was formed featuring the Vocalist/Guitarist and Drummer from Tulus working with two other musicians. Eikind on bass, who has been in a number of projects, but guitarist Rinn hasn't been involved in much. Blodstrup, now calling himself Gard, teaming up with Rinn on guitar has created something that truly advances the Tulus sound as far as I'm concerned. It's slowed down quite a bit by comparison and they are now playing on guitars that are tuned far lower, but the focus of this project is generate an extremely catchy groove. The songwriting also stays on the very simple side, but I find that while the songs' challenge level is very low in terms of performance, they do manage to create some really excellent layering between all the instruments. The bass guitar stands out quite a bit compared to, well... just about any other Black Metal release out there and, in fact, the bass ends up being quite the driving instrument in this project. Within this extremely groovy approach they still manage to harness that more atmospheric quality of Black Metal and it's vastly different from anything else out there at the time of the albums release. In similar Tulus fashion these songs are quite short, varying around three minutes each, so the album is actually fairly short. I don't think I need to mention this, but I love Gard's vocals. I've always loved his vocals and they are a massive asset to this project.
So, if you're looking for something that sort of carries the Tulus torch, but in a slightly different direction then I highly recommend checking out Khold. "Masterpiss of Pain" is an instant success performed by veteran musicians and they've really enhanced their songwriting to a point where this album has always stood out to me and no one has ever really been able to perform something in a similar vein as far as I'm concerned.
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