Kveldstimer “Scripture of The Woods”

Scripture of the Woods will be released on CD October 31st via Alte Steelen

The second wave of black metal is by far, one of the most influential movements in all of metal’s history. Continuing to inspire and being emulated more than thirty years since its inception. Kveldstimer is a USA based duo, composed of Azeruel Woldaeg (all instruments) and Collier d'ombre (vocals), who joined forces to create an album that fits perfectly in the 90’s, while giving it their own “necro” spin. Both have over a decade of experience playing in various extreme metal projects which is showcased on the band’s debut album Scripture of the Woods.

Inspecting the album art, we see a photograph of a waterfall on the side of a wooded mountain, with a dark blue hue overlay. This simple image works not only to ping a sense of nostalgia for all the iconic blue hued album covers from the second wave era itself, but also serves as a good representation of the band’s name which translates to “evening hours” from Norwegian.

This iconic “Norwegian cold” motif is present from the moment you press play and hear the slow build-up of the first track “Emerging Glare” percolating from the speakers. Right away, we are comforted by a purposefully raw production with the right amount of distortion and reverb. The mix has the drums and bass moved forward, while the guitar is more towards the back and acts as the typical “wall of sound” you come to expect with the genre. The melodies on these tracks are primarily created with the use of synths that pierce through the distortion. What’s interesting here is that the synths don’t always follow the main guitar riff, and often have their own melody. Which adds a different dimension to the composition. The vocals sit in the middle of the mix, yet still feel cavernous; an effect that works most of the time. Though there are some moments in the album where the vocals do get overshadowed by the instrumentation.

With a surprisingly short runtime of 24:38, Scripture of the Woods is full of blistering fast songs that barely crack the two-and-a-half-minute mark. The most viscous is the track “Folk of the Blossoming Sky” which plays like a B-side from an early 1349 album. The intensity of Collier d'ombre’s vocals are fantastic here. Having a sense of gurgling death, while the evil sounding riffs and unrelenting drums switch between blast beats and D-beat styles. Another memorable but short song to highlight is “The Field's Arrival” as it has the best synth melody of the album which gives the track a vampiric vibe (think Castlevania soundtrack).

Scripture of the Woods is not an onslaught front to back, Kveldstimer instead decided to add two creative instrumental breaks that serve to amplify the evil atmosphere. The first (although a bit drawn out for my taste), appears during the track “Washed Away Among the Stones” as a four-minute synth horror soundscape that is equal parts disorienting, hypnotic, and unsettling. The second is the entire final track called “Moon's Melody of Death” which features guitar work interwoven with touches of synth and works well as the album’s conclusion.

Overall, this is a solid debut that has a satisfying flow. Featuring dynamic vocals that keep you engaged and uses synths in a tasteful way to flesh out the musical ideas. Based on my taste in black metal today however, I don’t find that the album presents anything I haven’t heard before and is too straight forward. Thus, making this simply an enjoyable listen. With that said, Kveldstimer has successfully composed a love letter to 90’s era black metal that will appeal to the nostalgia of seasoned metalheads and scratch the itch of newer listeners of the genre.

SCORE: 3 / 5

FFO: Sort Vokter, Enslaved (early), Bathory (early)

You can pre-order the physical album (before October 31st) on the Alte Seelen web store or buy the digital version on Bandcamp today.