Ondskapt - Dödens evangelium (2005)^{Release ID: 21368}

The Swedish BM scene has this glut of bands that stick with an orthodox interpretation of the genre.  With Watain being undoubtedly the most well-known of these groups there's a good few hours' worth of quality material out there from the likes of Funeral Mist, Ofermod and also Ondskapt (amongst others).  On full-length number two the Stockholm band send lush, rich and yet harrowing melodies into the air, surrounding them with dank atmospherics, ritualistic and iniquitous vocals as well as contorting structures to boot.

At times, the melodies really shine through, transported by tremolo riffs and the looming milieu on these occasions serve as a superb backdrop for that continuous undertone of egregious intent.  The maniacal and unbridled intensity of the vocals is akin to Mayhem-like delivery in terms of style and they do well to stand out against such an impressive array of sounds from the instruments without ever feeling lost or intrusive at either end of the spectrum.  Taken as a whole, the performance on most tracks feels like a constant build as songs progress to blistering levels of intensity coming from more doom-laden constructs in the first instance.  Dödens evangelium is no one-trick pony.  As an album it explores the authentic BM sound most definitely, but at the same time adopts elements from outside the genre to show a talent for song writing that is developed beyond just simple blastbeats and furious tremolos.

My only criticism would be that it does go on a bit and doesn't feel well-balanced overall as an album given that the first part of the album consists of longer songs that feel more accomplished and developed than their counterparts which occupy this final half of the record.  From track seven onwards the shorter offerings kick in and the attention to detail feels reduced.  I think these tracks would have fit better in between the longer ones (or may be even left on the cutting room floor in some instances).  They are not bad per se, they just seem a little out of context and stray close to levels of succinctness that doesn't befit their overall strengths so well.