Artist: Horde of Hell
Title: Likdagg
Type: Album
Label: Regain Records

Who these Swedish Black and Death Metal musicians are is a mystery but it is clear that according to the publicity at least, they have a very clear view of life. Their web site lists their “values”, which equate to everything negative that you can think of. In fact it’s so over the top that frankly it’s a bit laughable, and reminiscent of the excesses of Nattefrost in his heyday or Gaahl. Yet this work comes from a reputable label, indeed the one which puts out work by Dark Funeral, Dismember, Marduk, Arckanum, Grave and Gorgoroth so I expected a decent, or should that be inhuman, representation of all the abomination and destruction which they advocate so strongly in their words.

“Likdagg” is undoubtedly an exercise in Black Metal hatred, vitriol and carcinogenic clouds. It starts fast with some Black Metal of an old school kind but soon it slows down and a funereal dirge is hammered out on “Smärtens Vapen”. Dark clouds come in and we hear the noises of steel and punishment from the factory on the instrumental “The Works of the Holy”. The level of enveloping vitriol and darkness can’t be questioned and the tracks vary between the violent and angry “Celebration” and the more deliberate and addictive “Med Vapen I Hand”. After a crashing opening, despairing anguish battles against raging and furious instrumentals which create a toxic wall of sound on “Riv Livets Tron”. I liked the instrumental track “Likdadd”, which starts with the bells and sounds like an eerie part of a drama within a horror film. The black mood and attack are total, but I found it strange that each track should be a new statement. By doing it this way, we are given the chance to recover and escape, and surely this defeats the objective. The more effective tracks in my view are the slower ones, and so “Döden Regel” is right up there with its feel of hard labour. Mechanical in its nature, it descends into a crushing, all-embracing, deep and funereal procession. Like “Döden Regel”, the following track “Livents Tid Förbi” similarly drips death in a deliberate way. The vocalist leads the horrible chorus. Lingering death continues on “Dömd Frölös”. The way the guitars strike out suggests isolation, and amid echoey screams the drums create the rumble of thunder. “Dömd Frölös” is well-constructed. Distorted voices are used on this album, none more than on the atmospheric final track “Hären”. It is as if the Master speaks, with all sorts of horror going on around him. The sound we hear is of crows swirling around as we stand at the bottom of Hell.

Each track is a tribute to blackness, extremity and the values listed in the sleeve notes but as a whole I was underwhelmed by “Likdagg”. There were good moments and passages, but I generally found it somewhat banal and unsatisfactory. I own albums by Nattefrost, Gorgoroth, Mayhem, Dark Funeral and others of an Extreme Black Metal orientation, and find more inspiration in the work of those artists. Personally, I did not find enough in this album to be motivated to go out and buy it.

www.myspace.com/heldivine
www.regainrecords.com

Andrew Doherty

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