Review by Vinny for Afsky - Fællesskab (2025)

For the first ten or fifteen seconds of the new Afsky record, the listener can be forgiven for wondering just what the hell they have gotten themselves into. Bright sounding, female vocals kick off the opening track, sounding to all intent and purpose like some foreign pop group has sabotaged the expected black metal opus you have just clicked play on. Thankfully, it is but a ruse. Soon enough the familiar coldness sweeps into the sound as Afsky treats us to an epic opening tremolo, the kind that vibrates your teeth together as it goes on for the best part of two minutes. Fællesskab has a feeling of the grandiose to it from the off really. This cinematic edge to proceedings with explosions of riffs (check out ‘Den der ingenting ved tvivler aldrig’), howls of ghastly despair and rich, undulating melodicism all makes for one hell of a listening experience.

Possessing the earthy tones of Drudkh and the atmospheres of WITTR, Fællesskab might be Afsky’s best effort to date. Ole Pedersen Luk, to give him his proper name, once again handles everything on the record giving a fantastic acquittal of himself in the process. He drops in some traditional metal sounding moments along the way that sit effortlessly alongside the more traditional black metal fare on offer. Afsky’s high-pitched vocals are toned to bring the cold in at a second’s notice, and so when things get a little too far away from the black metal roots, he’s there with his shrill vocals to bring the temperature back down to a suitable level of tundra. The tremolos have a folk style to them, an almost warbling sound in fact, and as a result they seem to swirl in the air around the listener like bastardised songbirds.

With no track under six minutes in length, the forty-five minute run time feels full yet not bloated. Albeit far from a Marduk level of intensity, the record does have a sense of charging momentum to it. The pace of the attack that opens ‘Arveskam’ is a good reference point for this. There’s a balance to the tempo here that keeps the energy but introduces the melodies at the same time. Having referenced Drudkh earlier in the review, I would say this is a much better album than Shadow Play. It has a more direct approach, resulting in more potency in the riffing. The bell tolls of ‘Flagellanternes sang’ herald a superb, morbidly melodic bm track that is positively spellbinding. Fællesskab may not be the darkest, most glum black metal release of the year but it is the most exciting for sure. Four records in and Afsky is really hitting his stride with his maturing brand of black metal. I am unable to point out criticism on Fællesskab, making it a strong contender for AOTY in my book.