Album Review: Ulveblod - Omnia Mors Aequat
Reviewed by Paul Hutchings
If you were familiar with Dutch black metal outfit Nihill, you’ll be aware that members Vitriol and M. (Michiel Eikenaar) had crafted their own, unique sound which combined old school influences with avant-garde experimentation through an almost maddening, hypnotic repetition. The death of M. signalled the end of Nihill. Main guitarist and producer Vitriol has now returned with a new project called Ulveblod. Using some of the session musicians that played with Nihill, this five-track release is possibly the most challenging and uncomfortable release you’ll hear all year. Stripping away any final shreds of sanity and comprehension, ‘Omnia Mors Aequat’ is a cacophony of pure chaos, anger and senselessness. ‘Seven Heads and Ten Horns’ is an outpouring of sheer noise, crashing percussion, the rawest production and sheer terror literally spewing forth from the speakers. It’s hard to find words to address this bilious vile explosion of hate. ‘Purified by Fate’ is little better, with the constant battery of repetitive blast beats, patterns and aggression and what sounds like excessive swarms of flies caught in a carcass stripping frenzy. It’s an astonishingly uneasy delivery which echoes what one imagines would be the soundtrack to the entrance of Hell.
The sonic assault is maintained on track three, the indescribably chaotic ‘In the Shadow of Sephirah Keter’. Some semblance of a beat appears on penultimate track ‘Chaosophy’, which at least provides respite from the sheer onslaught that Ulveblod bring. The closing song, ‘The Dying Wound of God’ proved a bit too much, the 21 minutes of aural bleeding challenging every nerve, cell and sinew in the body as the clamour which surely is the soundtrack of Hades grasped, clawed and ripped at flesh and bone . Rarely have shoulders been so tense after listening to an album.
The intention of Ulveblod was to release ‘Omnia Mors Aequat’ simultaneously with their debut show at Roadburn Festival 2020, playing integrally along with a tailor-made video accompaniment that was to also be executed live. With the festival postponed for a year, those whose pallet is moistened by such base sounds will sadly also have to wait.
