So we’re two weeks into the new year and just a few days off of, what I’m reading a good chunk of my newsfeed believes, cheap groceries and prosperity for everyone. Plus cheap flights to Greenland. Jesus fucking Christ, amen. But let’s look at the year that’s already been: massive fires that were caused by God to punish the satanic pedophiles, according to several figures in the black metal underground who forgot what the central fucking tenets of the goddamned genre were. And record cold and snow on the east coast, which knocked out water in Richmond for a few days. I guess this was God punishing the city for too many stoner bands? Either way, it didn’t matter much to me because I live outside of the city.
But alas, my hubris doth cost me as some dickhead got fabulously shithoused and drove their car off the road in front of my house, through my barrier wall, across my gravel driveway and into another wall. I managed to sleep through all of this but woke up to the loving sound of a cop knock, the second worst thing to wake up to, next to a stranger’s cold hands. I realized much later that I didn’t ask the cop how the driver was nor did I really care either way. This isn’t just for a humorous anecdote for the six of you reading, I legitimately have no regard for this person, though I suppose I’ll ask out of formality when the cop calls back with the police report.
So 2025 already tastes like a dick covered in sores. But there’s good news on the horizon, at least for the end of this fine January, specifically the new albums by Naked Whipper and Nyredolk, the latter being responsible for this week’s theme.
For a long time between the middle 2000s and late 2010s I was pretty burned out on black metal in general. Some of it was because I was a drug addled mess of a man who really only cared about online gaming and avoiding reality through any means available, some of it was because once I pulled myself out of that I was just overly jealous of a lot of bands, and some of it was because I was hungry for other experiences and genres, especially once I cleaned up and started managing a record store. I think 2018 was the zenith of this burnout, shown publicly through my very much phoned in No Clean Singing year end list but manifested in my personal life right next to the last big depression spell I was in, which lasted well into 2019 until my girlfriend’s cancer diagnosis snapped me back into reality and into some attempt to get my shit back together. This pull back into the real world caused me to open my eyes to a lot that was happening around me, probably in the first healthy use of a coping mechanism in my adult life, and since my world was based in music, I paid attention to what my friends were listening to. A band that stuck out to me because of their general aesthetic was Nyredolk, who became my lifeline back into underground black metal, spiraling into what I’ve worked on through writing and my own music and even how I spend my listening free time in the six years since. Not an inconsequential band in my life. But we’ll get to them towards the end of all this.
So, because of this epiphany I decided to check out what else was happening in Denmark and, through the guidance of my lawyer Daniel Katz Esquire, was pointed in the direction of the Korpsånd Circle, a collective of like minded individuals surrounding the Mayhem venue in Copenhagen. There’s plenty of Korpsånd related bands and projects, introduced to the wider underground through a compilation simply titled Korpsånd which is loaded with excellence, and the circle seemed to spread with more projects shortly after, though it seems since 2022 most of the bands have been silent. While I could spend multiple columns talking about each project that I enjoy and recommending their records I’ll stick to just a few since there’s more I want to dig into for this one, but that compilation is a good road map to get you started if you dig on what I’m about to write about.
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Fanebærer is probably my favorite of the Korpsånd bands, especially their debut full length. I wrote about it years ago, making the comparison of the darker, harsher bands of the Circle as Joy Division and Fanebærer as New Order. I remember feeling very proud of how clever I was, obviously because I’m reusing it four or five years later, but whatever. Fanebærer do have an underlying punkish stomp to their music, think very early Killing Joke or Ildjarn, but that’s just the heartbeat, the actual flesh of the music is triumphant and driving, which continued through their second full length, their excellent split with Carved Cross, and a 7 inch that was released in 2022. The punkier elements of their music gradually disappeared, with each release having its own distinctive feel to it.
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They were supposed to come to the states for a show out west but, much like everything else, it got fucked up and they were unable to make it. Since early 2022 it’s been quiet for Fanebærer, which has been the case for most of the Korpsånd bands, unfortunately. Except for one.
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I’d heard a bit of Gabestok but it wasn’t until their label, Strange Aeons, promoted a preorder for their newest record, Med Freden Kommer Hadet, as being on “piss colored vinyl” mixed with having a few dollars in Paypal and some cannabis (because I want you to think I’m cool) that I decided to buy it without really checking it out, something I rarely do as an adult either because everything is available online almost instantly and I have a mortgage, and I’d almost forgotten about it until it showed up at my doorstep in all it’s pissy glory.
One thing that’s really cool about the Korpsånd Circle bands is while they all share a similar feeling and obvious home base, they’re all different in their own ways, but few are as different as Gabestok. Taking cues from Raw Power as well as other garage classics and early heavy metal alongside harsh, traditional black metal and an early Poison Idea-esque attitude, Gabestok are refreshingly iconoclastic. This is fucked up music done with sincerity and not just to stick out for press accolades. The album would go on to be included in my year end list in 2023 and still receives regular play. Their other work is just as out there, interesting and captivating.
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As an aside, while doing a bit of research for this one, mostly just grammar and whatever, I stumbled into the Reddit IsItSketch forum (or board, or whatever the fuck they call these things) and spent a good forty minutes dissociating while reading through the mental gymnastics within. I also read that my band was both, indeed, sketch as well as “incredibly safe” which took me through a roller coaster of emotions. There was a thread asking if Pig Destroyer was sketch, so that was enough internet for me for the day.
So, like I said earlier, I could really spend a lot of time just on the Korpsånd bands and maybe I’ll return to them one day but I think I’ve set up enough of a guide for anyone who’s interested to weave their way in. There really isn’t a bad record in the whole collective and hopefully 2025 will bring some new music to the surface.
A few years ago Caligari Records, who were Nyredolk’s American label, advertised Befængt, the debut ep from Hersker, described as Danish black/punk, a description that instantly piqued my interest.
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This was a bit over thirteen minutes of harsh black/punk that brought to mind not only Nyredolk but Bone Awl, Slavehouse and other nasty projects with that Ildjarn blood running through their veins. There’s also a disorienting yet melodic subtext running through their songs, like a bit of light that hasn’t been strangled out yet, trying to surface. By the end of the year Hudangst, their debut full-length, would see release. A bit more of a traditional black metal affair, Hudangst was a devastating record, fulfilling the promise that their demo had, only months prior, shown. I’m sure we’ll see something new from them this year.
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Late 2021 I was recommended to look into Jernved and their Stormvarsel demo. Traditional black metal in the early/mid second wave style with a vocalist suspiciously similar to Fanebærer’s, this was the first demo in years I had to get not by clicking a link and then a few buttons until Paypal popped up, but by contacting the band and actually talking with them on how to get it, an experience that almost seems alien these days. Jernved would eventually align with Den Ottende Kunst, who you had to write for instructions to buy their stuff, who also released the excellent Gam, another Danish project that brought those 90s feelings (along with early Bathory) to mind.
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I don’t know shit about these bands other than what their label is and that they’re fucking great. It’s probably been twenty or more years since I could say that, since everyone knows everyone else’s fucking business these days.
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So, my love of black metal was reignited by the 2018 self titled Nyredolk demo. And not only did this demo bring me back to my roots but it also really informed and shaped how I would perceive this whole new underground that I’d foolishly been ignoring for years. Because there was something there, in their energy, in the sharpness of their sound and the perfect melding of black metal and punk, the whole Ildjarn thing that I’d only really heard Bone Awl perfect before diving into years of neglected (on my end) greats. But the revelation? It would be their followup, Indebrændt, that I was sent an early copy of when I ordered the reissue of the 2018 demo.
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Way back in Noise Pollution #15 I told the story of how I listened to Indebrændt while having several cigarettes after finding out my child was going to be a girl, which cemented the whole reality of the upcoming experience, which was the second time Nyredolk had somehow been a part of something very important in my life, so I probably have a bit of bias. But, regardless of circumstance, I believe Indebrændt to be one of the greatest black metal recordings ever, easily in my top fifty or so. It progresses from the self titled into this fucking monster of harsh yet very memorable music, with some of the most malicious riffs I’ve ever heard. There’s just nothing like this recording for me. It just seethes with pain and anger.
So on January 31st Nyredolk, after several quiet years, return with their debut full length, Barndommens Hjem on Styglyd Records. I was fortunate enough to be able to listen to it early and I’ve spent a lot of time with it the last few weeks and I’m honestly floored by it. The complexity of emotions on display, everything that’s obviously gone into creating it, it’s just fucking outstanding. I’m going to quote the press release, something I’m not apt to do, because I think it gives a pretty good summary:
“Barndommens hjem” is a raw and honest exploration of the theme of social heritage. The album delves into the complex relationships across generations and the scars that many carry throughout life. It speaks of trauma and how individuals choose to either repeat or break free from it.
I’ve spoken a little with the band about it and hopefully I’ll have our conversation up on my Substack or somewhere else, as well as a bit of it in print, but it’s very obvious this was a difficult record to birth and comes from some truly harrowing and painful places, which shows in every moment of it. From the black/punk stomp they perfected to blasting chaos to moments of absolute anguish, this is a perfect record, one that I was highly anticipating for years that has truly lived up to my high expectations.
They’ve allowed bits and pieces of it on their Instagram page but it’s being well guarded until they’re ready. Follow their social media or their Bandcamp for a chance to listen. It’s well, well fucking worth it.
I’m going to leave you with one of my favorite EPs from the Korpsånd Circle, Grifla da la Secta’s Dyrs Føde. I’ll be back in two weeks, I think it’s probably Valentine’s Day season, I’m sure I’ll have something just terrific in store.
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