KHOLD

Hundre A Gammal
Candlelight Records

This Norwegian black metal band has a completely different sound than many of their peers. It harkens back to a more primitive style, but not with shitty, tin-can sounding production. No it's heavy, dark, and it "grooves" for lack of a better word. (I tend use that word a lot because sometimes there is no other accurate way of describing how a song flows.) No blastbeats are to be found on this release (which I am sure will displease many black metal purists) it has more of a stoner/doom metal vibe, but as soon as the keyboards kick in, it gives it that symphonic backdrop which adds a nice texture. On the down side there are zero guitar solos which was very disappointing. Also, the vocals while effective, with their raspy, grating, evilness did not change very much, which made all the songs tend to sound very similar after about four tracks. Not to mention it's all in native Norwegian (which is fine) but unless your fluent in that language, it's all guesswork on the subject matter (although I am sure it's dark and gloomy). I give these guys kudos for trying to avoid sounding like every other black metal band out there (and having great production), but they need to add more depth (especially with the vocals) to the songs and a guitar solo now and then wouldn't hurt either.

- Craig Harvey