Description

Black vinyl. Limited 500 copies

Hödur were a relatively unknown Polish horde (Hödur not Hodur, see the logo!) which was considered somewhat a cult band already at their heyday in the mid-later nineties by those with a preference for the rawer end of Black Metal, which at the time was saturated with keyboard-drenched melodicism. This is certainly not the sweet easy-listening material typical of the era. The album contains 8 tracks that makes it a compact package ticking just over thirty minutes, which is just about the perfect length for this material. The overall sound is harsh, chaotic and very typical for the demos of the time. It’s not the Les Legions Noires-level of noise, however, so fear not. The instruments are well enough audible, with the guitar furiously buzzing away over pounding drums. There is no audible bass, obviously as the line-up doesn’t feature a bassist, but that is often the case with black metal bands employing a bassist as well. The vocals are raspy screaming with some echo, unfortunately they get a bit too much buried in the generic wall of noise. I’d like them to be a bit more on the front as the singer manages to cough up quite a bit of bile and venom. Most of the songs are in-your-face, straight-ahead and fast pieces of blistering, chaotic Black Metal, but there are melodies to be heard as well as is some Darkthronish catchiness. Overall, they borrow more from the Nordic school than the typical Polish from of black metal.

Track list:
1. Breath Of War
2. Unpure Race
3. Victory!!!
4. In The Kingdom
5. Salve Satanas
6. The Aim
7. Antichrist/Lucifer
8. The Majesty