Hulder – Godslastering: Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry (Review)

With a series of highly acclaimed releases, the one woman Black Metal project Hulder has already made a name for itself and drawn wide circles in the Metal underground. With Godslastering: Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry, the long-awaited debut album of the Belgian artist, who meanwhile lives in the USA, has now been released and thus represents the first conceptual long player in their own history. The listener can look forward to eight raw and bitterly evil Black Metal songs, which are musically clearly inspired by the 2nd wave of the genre, but in addition to the classic gloomy Scandinavian sound also incorporate slightly anthemic, epic elements, dungeon synth and various Pagan influences. In short, whoever is into straightforward, frosty cold Metal, in whose darkness you can lose yourself, should definitely deal with this record.

It doesn’t take long to realize the exceptional quality of the sound fabricated on Godslastering: Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry. The album is riddled with cold instrumentals that are seamlessly strung together and intertwine at every point. Be it with bludgeoning Black Metal parts reminiscent of Gorgoroth and in other parts more punkish like first Darkthrone or with it’s gutter-sawing riffing familiar from bands like Watain. While the musical hurricane seems to blow stronger and stronger, a cold atmosphere builds up that more than lives up to those of the old classics. Almost permanently led by brutal blast beats, the wild but clearly defined beating continues to increase and initially offers calmer elements only in a few passages. In the course of the record, especially the great songwriting becomes the main feature of the music, which, in addition to versatile frenzy, can always accommodate the right pinch of atmospheric influences, which can be reflected in very striking passages. Be it the gloomy dungeon synth components or the partly epic seeming, nature-related pagan accents. The fact that the production of the record reproduces all this in an authentic, raw but not too smooth form is something I do not really need to mention anymore after the previous outputs. With the track “De Dijle” there is also a piece on Godslastering: Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry that comes along without the aggressive metal parts and thus conjures up an exciting middle part, which could be clearly stronger, but can still stand out from the other sounds.

The best track in my opinion definitely is “A Forlorn Peasant’s Hymn“, which is a nice mixture of epic and bitter rage that is very catchy thanks to the shallower beginning. At this point, the voice of Hulder comes into its own especially well, and the following Black Metal inferno that again stands out from the rest heard before musically as well as atmospherically puts a lot of focus on Pagan. In addition to the breathtaking vocals, especially the melodies and powerful riffing quickly stick in the head.

Since recently, more precisely the 22nd of January, you can get the album via Iron Bonehead Productions in all physical versions, which you should not miss as a fan of authentic yet well-produced raw Black Metal, because one thing is more than clear to me after several runs – Hulder has created a record that consistently pulls you along, can captivate during the listening and puts a frosty atmosphere on the day, which is like an icy veil over the mind. Those who have liked the previous output of the project will also be able to quickly dive into the long player and find that all expectations that could be placed on Godslastering: Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry have not only been met but also exceeded. A really great album to pass the winter time with during walks through the snowy nature or domestic winter nights with dim candlelight.

Favourite Tracks:
“Creature Of Demonic Majesty“
“A Forlorn Peasant’s Hymn

9/10

[bandcamp width=99% height=120 album=169697930 size=large bgcol=333333 linkcol=ffffff tracklist=false artwork=small]