Well, by the Lightbringer’s roasted balls, that’s one long wait. Salacious Gods saw the dreary light of hell back in – 1994. Their last full-length record released in 2005. That’s a generation of waiting for – some new Black Metal. And that let the RMR review desk almost recommend this band for this year’s lamestream award series. Almost.
Because here’s to a band that stood proud more or less at the heyday of the old Scandinavian Black Metal movement. Created at a time when church burnings were rampant and Black Metal was populated by truly lost souls. But then, those underground bands shied away from the limelight and stayed in their cellars. So, nope.
And indeed. Oalevluuk sends us back to times when BM was a lo-fi and often barebone affair. Metal that could have existed back in the ’90s without breaking stride. It’s a bit like old-style Heavy Metal that won’t invent no wheels anymore. Only here, you need to hide the knives, turn all those crosses upright again, and light the dark corners to avoid disaster. The Cachets1 of this world are never far away in this type of work.
On the other hand, anti-Christianity is one of the band’s credos after all, and that hasn’t changed over time. Boy, even the band photos of folks in the woods at night somewhere with torches are so cliché it made me cringe. The band and its work didn’t change their colors and held on to the roots of their work. Albeit that they moved away from the rumbling downturned fully bricked wall-of-sound style lo-fi recording to a more spiffy production that favors the vocals more front-center. And that’s a laudable thing, by the way.
But if you think that the band is still the same old gang, come again. Only Iezelzweard aka Nick Brockman dates back to the band’s original times. All others either signed on in 2023 or followed in the wake of the band since 2005. And most interestingly, Lafawijn from Iku-Turso got hired to man the vocal station, and it sure shows. It’s those hard rasps that sounded somewhat familiar to us at first until we found out.
Rise, Oh Horned One Rise! The first track on Oalevluuk indeed sports that majestic, kinda slow-motion Black Metal feel. Downturned guitars fueled by a tremolo-fest, not dissimilar to what Geisterfels did with their supertight one-off piece. Until some thrash thought takes over and the track speeds away. A lot on that record really takes you down that traditional road to perdition in a somewhat rough ‘n’ dirty style of scratchy, stripped-down goodness. And that could well collide with today’s succulent display of modern BM. Meaning, this record might indeed prove to be a hard sell outside of the mean underground.
But the adepts of the blackened art will still find a lot to like here nonetheless. First, the aforementioned Rise, Oh Horned One Rise! is one grim bitch of pristine Black Metal songsmithing. Excellent balance and some pretty neat blackened groove find themselves on the succulent Bloedkloete with its retro-fit style that reaches straight into the ’90s. If only they could have kept clear of those Burzum-esque2 keys a bit better, I’d even call it a great track.
Speaking about groove, the otherwise bland Honor Him displays some pretty enjoyable vibes towards the end. Which does indeed save its scrawny bacon some. And I would be remiss not to mention Oalevluuk, the title track. At the very end, Salacious Gods pulled out the stops and created a track that’s as malevolent as it is good. Fiercely aggressive BM riffs closely follow Lafawijn rough-hewn rasp. Only to present a second half that’s more melodic and doom-laden than the rest of the record.
So, let’s fetch some holy water and pour it over our overheating turntable to wrap this up. Oalevluuk might not win any year-end prizes this time around here after all. On the other hand, you’ll find a solid Black Metal record with a few short explorations into other styles. Barebone, lo-fi, and (still) firmly connected to the times when Black Metal was pvre rawness and daemonic aggression. Yet with enough atmosphere and melodic injections to please the modern metal ear. Somewhat of a hybrid between Sagenland and Gorgoroth with a crew much younger than I expected.
Now, let’s hope they won’t make us wait for yet another generation with new material. We’re all not getting younger.
Record Rating: 6/10 | Label: Hammerheart Records | Web: Facebook (band)
Release Date: 6 October 2023