ELFSGEDROCH

Black metal from Dutch soil. Elfsgedroch stirs in a mythical soup and serves, with hallucinatory flavors, a luscious metal meal.

What a pleasure I have had in recent days listening to the latest black metal creations of ELFSGEDROCH. In an attempt to do justice to my listening experience, my words—dragged up from a basement of available and hastily assembled imagery—nearly run wild. After Op De Beenderen Van Onze Voorvaderen (On the Bones of Our Forefathers) and Dwalend Bij Nacht en Ontij (Wandering by Night and Unholy Hours), there is now Gedoemd tot de Eeuwige Jacht (Doomed to the Eternal Hunt).  

"Elfsgedroch" is a term that dates back to the 12th / 13th century, to Marlaent's "Spiegel Historiael" and the medieval poem "Karel ende Elegast" in which "Elfsgedroch" is described as the work of fallen angels who, as the devil’s kin, descend to earth to do their stinking work. Elfsgedroch, the music, is, by analogy with more recent mythology, Tolkien on steroids. Fantasy in overdrive with a grunt from the underground. What if Sauron had a guitar and gave voice to his inner turmoil? Elfsgedroch, the band, forges songs soaked in blood and mud, carving runes into the soul. In the music of Elfsgedroch, the beast with blackened heart comes with many names - from Boezenhappert, Okkerman to Waternekker.​

Zij, die zich toch lieten verleiden
Zij, Die de lokroep niet konden weerstaan
Zij, Werden op een onbewaakt moment
Zij, zij werden dan gegrepen
(Doodsklauwen uit de Algendrab)

Those, Who let themselves be seduced
Those, Who could not resist the call
They, at an unguarded moment
Were caught
(Death claws from the Algae drab)​

The grunt comes as the roar of the siren, buried deep into buzzing guitars and rolling drums, irresistibly resounding in the distance. It stretches the vocals to the edge of audibility, giving it a meaning beyond words. Here, in the basins of the North Sea, a gruesome reality is mythically framed. The music, constructed from reinforced concrete and braced by steel horizons, defies restrictive formalism and pulls you away from the  daily craze—something of particular value in this time of quarantine. Music as a landscape that reports of a journey that both purifies and alienates. With that rare quality to bring out opposites together in a non-conflicting way, the music is robust yet swift, dark yet full of life. These are soundscapes in the best sense of the word. Here what is served makes you hungry for more.

Gedoemd tot de Eeuwige Jacht is a black metal mass, decorated with mythological aesthetics, that testifies to a deeply romantic longing for meaning and something beautiful in a disenchanted world. A listening experience in which, to paraphase Novalis, the banal becomes exalted, the ordinary mysterious and finiteness is given the guise of infinity. Listen!​

Lees hier de Nederlandse review >>