Elfsgedroch - Gedoemd Tot De Eeuwige Jacht

So if you are aware of the Dutch black metal scene, you have heard of Elfsgedroch. They are a known name in the scene and they’ve been going strong since 2015. After releasing their first full length ‘Op De Beenderen Van Onze Voorvaderen’ they’ve kept it quiet for a long time. They kept it quiet (full length wise) for 4 years. Finally they’ve released their latest full length ‘Gedoemd Tot De Eeuwige Jacht’. 

 

From the start you can absolutely hear the transformation between the two full length albums. The recording sounds more professional and polished. What you had with their first release was mostly punk-beat black metal and now Elfsgedroch have toned that down a bit. Elfsgedroch made its way into the fast paced blast beat black metal. To be honest, they have made a great entry into that direction.

 

Furthermore is that Elfsgedroch doesn’t care about intro’s to their tracks. Just full on pounding black metal. What I always liked about Elfsgedroch are the vocals. They got even more dirtier on ‘Gedoemd Tot De Eeuwige Jacht’. The slightly guttural mixed with the harsh raspy vocals are a delight to listen to.

 

To not get bored, Elfsgedroch has been experimenting with some melodic clean passages and they make quite sense. Otherwise the album would’ve been a boring one. Just a straightforward record that will get lost in the Dutch black metal history books. Luckily they didn’t make a boring record and made it very interesting with the tempo changes that range from clean melodic to Dark Funeral quickness. 

 

What I really like are the mid-tempo moments Elfsgedroch does in their sound. For me they sound the best at that moment. In the song ‘Nachtmare’ you can hear this very clear. However when a song changes to the next one, you won’t have time to catch a breath. So you need to calm down during the slower tempo changes Elfsgedroch adds to the album. 

 

If you like your black metal more punk-like, I would recommend the song ‘Als De Nacht Haar Mantel Werpt’. That song does have the vibe you get from their previous full length ‘Op De Beenderen Van Onze Voorvaderen’. It is always nice to see/hear some hints from previous records.

 

So this is an album for the people who will adore straight forward blasting black metal and people that will like their tempo changes during their music. An absolute fun album to listen to and it is also one of those albums you put on your vinyl player or cd player and just put it on as background music. I bet you that after the album ends, you will look at yourself and put it back on again because you really liked what you’ve heard.