As many of you know, I do my best to stick to writing about brand-new stuff. Gotta keep things fresh, after all. But as with Velo Misere’s Retrospectiva de la Fatalidad (which, serendipitously, dropped six years to the day before the release at hand) these kinds of lovely catchalls help lunks such as myself stay abreast of new adventures in kvlt-fi. Here we have Þríleikur, a handsome triple-CS box assembled by label/distro Malevolent Relics that collects the first and perhaps only demos by solitary Philly sorcerer Skafrenningur (a.k.a. Extispex). With the abundance of projects out there, any raw black metal purveyor runs the risk of sounding a lot like everyone else, so it takes a certain special something to rise above the horde. In this case it’s the formidable combination of painterly atmospherics and tight songwriting. Only a few tracks across the three tapes run for longer than four minutes, and yet each of the total twenty-one is its own treasure chest of dense murk and invigorating consonance. “Dauðleikr,” which kicks off both Allsköruligr Jökull and the entire trilogy, yawns open like a cavern so wide you can’t see the edges. As the lengthiest and most ambitious cut, it’s a perfect overture, casting everything that ensues in its hulking shadow. The riffs themselves are never complex; most are based on repetition and straightforward chromatic shifts, with the thrill often coming from the hypnotic drudge itself—and the anguished howls that rip through it. Ska also always knows when to brighten things up with a cathartic major-key resolution… when those harmonies in “Sigrblómi” hit it’s like a new spring sun melting the frost. Though the individual demos hold their own as self-contained installments, the whole set works quite well as a single experience, due in large part to the anchor points provided by the openers. Last but not least of these is “Drephríð,” a short and sweet Paysage-esque intro gust that blows into the darkest and heaviest tape, Himneskr Tárabrunnr. Almost makes you miss winter. Almost.
Noise Not Music 