Ondskapt - Dödens Evangelium (2005)

Although I've only recently begun to delve into the twisted world that is Stockholm, Sweden's, Ondskapt, I've been familiar with the bands name for quite a few years, but just simply never bought their releases for whatever reason until recently. I suppose this is the ideal time if any to indulge in black metal, especially one of this caliber. 'Dödens Evangelium' exists within a certain movement of black metal that's been dubbed, "Orthodox Black Metal," which essentially is a scene that's largely ideologically connected, though generally offering different angles conceptional wise with usual malevolent anti-life traits and Devil worship as a whole. Needless to say, Ondskapt, which means "created (by) evil" in Swedish, is pretty serious about their work.

Intoxicated by malice, murder for the sake!

'Djävulens Ande' opens with the bellowing of goats when soon enough an absolutely beastly riff erupts followed soon enough by some of the most fiendish shrieks one will ever hear within a black metal record. Although generally staying mid-paced and with the hypnotic tremolo riffs, this is one of those songs that carry's such an immoral and cold feeling to it that it really forces me to focus all of my attention on it immediately as the band takes me on a diabolical campaign to the other side of existence. 'Feeding the Flames' doesn't relent in any way imaginable, in fact there's some blasting parts to be had and it just feels as if there's a sense of engulfing darkness around me as I continue listening. Interestingly by the time we reach the third song, 'Revelations of Another Time' it feels like the whole album is connected as one long song that's simply been broken into parts, this particular one moving at a sluggish pace, there's even an ambient break mid-way through and with a melodic solo following suite its one of the albums best.

'Lord of all Unclean Spirits' generally returns to the sound of the earlier songs and with great results to boot, while 'Akilkarsa' is one mighty instrumental piece with gloriously creepy spellbinding riffs that absolutely makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. 'I Kristi Skugga' is similar musically to the earlier songs, but features more of a spoken sort of dialogue that sounds like someone addressing a horde of followers from far atop their castle, whereas, 'Fienden Hungrar' seems to have something of an 80's black metal vibe, though with a brutal part followed by another impressive solo near its ending. The eighth song, 'Interlude' allows a breather of sorts through this short ritualistic ambient piece, but just as it caps off, 'The Fire of Hell' utterly destroys with its annihilating Satanic fury before moving into 'Blessed by Demoniac Wrath,' which is honestly the albums catchiest number with more energy and an old school Bathory-ish riff at the beginning its quite frankly a totally headbangable track! 'Beast of Death' and 'Witch' conclude the album, both upholding absolute quality, especially the latter which is another stunning instrumental that moves at a crawling pace with a huge surprise at the very end that utterly scared the fucking life out of me the first time I listened to it.

'Dödens Evangelium' is a fascinating record, especially if you allow yourself the pleasure to fully embrace everything offered. That means more than taking in the music, but opening the booklet and giving the lyrics some thought too. There's no denying this albums status as a modern classic and the influence its already had on the scene. Although I'm only familiarizing myself with it now I'm quite sure its an album I'll keep around for many years to come, while soon enough exploring everything else the band has to offer.

In the end its a challenging album that presents a disturbed vision of the Devil and his cohorts consuming all of life through utter pain and suffering. A must hear.