Vanmakt, Vredskapa Mörkersagor
Raise your hand if you love Satan. Good. Not bad. See, if I had asked Vanmakt that very same question, they would most likely have bludgeoned me unconscious, nailed me to an inverted cross and slit me open from groin to gullet — bleeding me out over an ornate pentagram geared for the arrival of Hell’s demons. These guys seem to love him just that much. Luckily for me, they’ve channeled their infatuation into unrelenting, evil as hell black metal.
Mixing apocalyptic riffs, malevolent drums, abysmal lyrics with an industrial ding, Vanmakt have produced an album with rich tones and nasty, dirty textures. Through Gráal’s maniacal blasts and fills there’s an undeniably infectious groove to much of the material on Vredskapa Mörkersagor that’ll have even the most go fearing individual head banging in no time. Add to the beastly rhythms shredding guitar work of axemen Aamoth and Satygh and Vanmakt have provided the ultimate sacrificial alter for main man’s Gorgoth’s diatribes — words that only one close with Satan himself could have penned.
The First Key
The opening track sets the tone of the album with sonic noise and disjointed piano.
Sanguine Craving
After that brief intro, Vanmakt let loose with a volley of drum blasts and beefy riffs at the onset of “Sanguine Craving.” This is a great track that has plenty of tempo shifts, large riffs, machine gun drums and a memorable chorus. Layered vocals give the song plenty of deapth.
Förkastelse Av Jesu Tro
This next track keeps the blood flowing with some evil shouts before settling into a mid tempo and catchy riff. This one has a nice head banging groove to it as it speeds through it’s 3 and a half minute run time.
“Telling lies about the left hands side,
Vengeance for all those broken promises,
I will open the doors to hell”Vanmakt “Open The Gates”
My Darkest Hate
Starting a bit slower with darker riffs and creative drum work, Vanmakt keep your attention well before exploding once again into pile driving black metal blasts. There’s a great drum and bass portion before the vocals kick in. You’ll definitely want to check out the video for this track in the enhanced portion of the disc. I’m really getting into Gorgoth’s vocal delivery — it’s well controlled yet ferocious as hell. Check out the riffing at the 2:40 mark.
Diaboli Iubeo
Noise fades in for the first 15 seconds before the band kicks in. This one has a more dramatic feel to it with layered vocals and dark guitar work. Gráal’s drum work continues to impress as he cranks out fills and blasts nicely.
Para Vindicta
A huge scream and blast from the drums gets “Para Vindicta” moving briskly along. It too is one of those songs that has one hell of a catchy groove to it. You’ll be head banging to this one in no time.
Open The Gates
Huge drums and evil riffing start “Open The Gates.” There’s plenty of action going on in this track. Deep, indecipherable and guttural vocals courtesy of Spawn of Possession’s Jonas Renvaktar spit vehemence as the rest of the band shreds on the best track of the album. This is easily my favorite track on the album. It has it all — evil, angry lyrics, layered vocals, tempo shifts.
Death Upon Death
I like the opening guitar work on this mid-tempo track. This is a nice transition after “Open The Gates” as it uses similar layered vocals to great effect.
En Mardröm, En Strid, Ett Helvete
Big, chugging riffs get your head nodding quickly to this one as the band tears through tempos and even come to a dead stop with dramatic effect before exploding again into groove oriented and ferocious black metal.
Prince Mephisto
Thundering drums and scream starts this one as we hear a slower vocal delivery from Gorgoth before the band settle into the familiar. There are some memorable riffs throughout this one so pay attention.
A New Satanic Era
The final track starts off slowly with some light guitar picking alternated with big riffs. The band gets into their groove at the 35 second mark with a slower approach to their delivery that’s quite refreshing. Oh there is still plenty of aggression and Satan in this one for you, but it’s definitely a more structured song than the previous tracks and is a great way to end out an excellent album.
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I know this is a bit of an older disc, but having just received it recently I had to get a review up. This is one of the more aggressive and evil albums I’ve heard so far this year and there’s more than enough going on within Vanmakt’s sound to make for a great listen each and every time. If you don’t already own it, I highly recommend Vredskapa Mörkersagor
Favorite Tracks:
All of them
Additional Notes:
Includes video for “My Darkest Hate”