Whoredom Rife – Den Vrede Makt (Review)

You like your Black Metal free from any Post-Metal leanings, raw and uncompromising? Then the fourth installment Den Vrede Makt of Norways Whoredom Rife is for you.

After making a name for themselves with already three well-received records of total blasphemy under their belt, the fairly young band of Trondheim origin present us their most ambitious and epic record under the wings of quality label Terratur Possessions.

Though the project itself is rather new to the scene, the two main members V. Einride (all instruments) and K.R. (vocals) are well-known figures thanks to their numerous other projects they’ve already been part of. And that experience clearly shows right from the atmospheric beginnings of opener and title track “Den Vrede Makt“.

While staying true to the genres raw roots and misanthropic leanings, the bunch clearly knows what they are doing as they manage to incoporate rather intricate melodies and even chorus sections in every song, making the cleverly arranged dissonant guitar melodies memorable and imprints them into your memory. Second track “Fiender” may start off rather melancholic and desperate before switching the angles in the second half, exploding into an onslaught of dissonant tremolo picking and ultra fast blast beat eruptions, accompanied by K.R.’s manic screams.

The following tracks more or less follow the same tropes and structures, in the end it’s still traditional Black Metal, right? That does not mean the rest of the bunch are sub par or less remarkable, as Den Vrede Makt is a very consistent record that separates itself by cleverly arranged lead sections (see “Phantom Sword“), atmospheric and dynamic songwriting .

Fans of Sargeist, Emperor (to a certain extent) and Taake should be pleased by the no thrills approach and the traditional execution. On the last track entitled “The Beautiful End Of All,” Whoredom Rife bring all presented elements together and create a culmination of the album as a whole, resulting in their most captivating song to date that favourably has a more doom and gloom feel than most of the other tracks. The atmosphere that is transferred is clearly the best part of the record and stands as one of the best Black Metal songs in recent memory that prefectly closes out Den Vrede Makt.

All in all it should be a big surprise if Whoredom Rife wouldn’t continue their rise to Black Metal stardom with Den Vrede Makt as the two musicians offer six professionally constructed Black Metal outbursts that offer everything a Black Metal fan could ask for, setting the bar very high for the rest of the genres contemporaries.