LIFVSLEDA – Evangelii Härold

vote
7.5

• Bands:
  LIFVSLEDA
• Duration: 00:47:33
• Available from: 04/30/2024
• Label:

• Norma Evangelium Diaboli

Lifvsleda are the classic NoEvDia band. Although this statement might almost sound like a half-criticism, when talking about the French label it is extremely rare to find something truly mediocre or banal; the same quantity of releases, which rarely exceeds four/five publications per year, demonstrates how important it is to maintain a high standard, both musical and thematic.
“Evangelii Härold”, the third effort of the mysterious Swedish project, is no exception and, although it does not reach that experimental vein typical of some of the label's releases, it settles on levels above the average of the genre, in an ideal meeting between the classic Scandinavian black metal and the more contemporary attitude of Funeral Mist and a record like “Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice”.
Without dwelling too much on brainy and complex passages, Lifvsleda succeed in the difficult aim of sounding old-school without falling into nostalgia and at the same time appearing modern without becoming too cryptic. In this sense, “Bland Likbodar Och Vintergrafvar” perhaps represents the perfect example of this mix, with its less angular Deathspell Omega riffs in constant balance on an abyss between old and new, capable of creating a destabilizing atmosphere of perpetual tension. The singing itself is a further source of anguish and discomfort, which moves away from the classic cold and sharp scream and turns towards more lacerating and emotional tones, as in the depressive “Absolut Död” which refreshes some ideas of the always too underrated Malign.
The opening track “Det Perfekta Sinnet” is direct and very effective, demonstrating the skill in balancing melody and aggression in streamlined but not obvious structures even when the tempos slow down noticeably as in “Sönderfall”, a moment that is only apparently static, capable of changing skin while effectively reiterating the same musical theme for eight minutes. Martial and sinister rhythms infiltrate the desperation of “Trämålningen” and the title track “Evangelii Hä​rold”, closing the circle of a work that knows how to maintain high attention for its entire duration.
The whole album sounds like an intense and subtle digression on a main theme – black metal – which has as its ultimate aim to create a threatening and sad atmosphere, capable of moving the listener through various moods, not only through aggression as an end in itself.
We could therefore define “Evangelii Hä​rold” as a nice surprise, but given the good premises of their recent past, the awareness of being faced with an interesting project was in the air.