Review by Vinny for Nortt - Dødssang (2025)

“Depressive black funeral doom” is the description Danish, multi-instrumentalist, Nortt gives themselves when explaining their style. Having played Dødssang about fifteen times now over the past few weeks, it is hard to argue with that tag. The “depressive black” element is more the ethos of early Xasthur, with absolute sorrow washing over the listener is slow and heavy waves of misery. It is the “funeral doom” influence of Skepticism that sits more proudly across the album. Those painfully dense piano keys and weighty atmospheres are the stars of the show for me. Dødssang therefore, is not a happy experience by any means, yet I personally find some solace in the cold desperation that is laid bare in Nortt’s music. It is a record that has its limitations in terms of I only listen to it at certain times/in certain moods (for instance, sat here in temperatures of 20 degrees Celsius, Dødssang is not the soundrack to summer). However, in those right moments it is perfect accompaniment for reflections on your deeper thoughts, darker emotions or even for when you just need to hear something that is as bleak as you feel the world is for you at that time.

If you come looking for variety in your music, then turn on your heels and head back from whence you came dear listener. Here be repetition, within repetition, within repetition, within repetition…I think you get the idea. At its best when listened to through earphones, when Dødssang lands with you right, it is hard to switch off or skip, let alone harder to not put on repeat immediately after the play through is done. I don’t mind the lack of variation as I find the tone it sets is more than enough to peak my interests currently and so I am glad in a way that it sticks to this approach consistently throughout. I can see for some though that this could be a problem. As I say, Dødssang is absolutely mood music and so the higher scores are not relevant in terms of a rating. Unless you are constantly in that dark space then I can’t imagine you seeking out this record much.

That should not detract from the quality of the album though. Funeral doom is not the most expansive of sub-genres and this certainly stays true to the blueprint here, in fact I would go as far as to question the “black” aspect of the tag here. Whilst it most certainly is justified regarding the messaging of depressive bm, musically there is very little comparison to draw on here. Having gone through some personal struggles in recent weeks, this album has probably found me at the optimum time and hence my connection with it is stronger than if life was all a garden of roses. This is the only funeral doom release I have heard this year also and so it is unchallenged in that regard as well.