Djevel - Saa raa og kald

DJEVEL - Saa raa og kald (AFTERMATH Music - LP 2015)

In the past couple of years Djevel arose to one of my favourite black metal bands that currently create the scene in Norway. Their catalogue has no weak albums, each one of them deserves to be a classic. In their early years we had "Dødssanger" and "Besatt av maane og natt" - two incredibly good albums. But then "Saa raa og kald" emerged from darkness and it turned out to be even better! This album has everything I like in black metal and the songwriting and performance on this record is 10 out of 10 for me. If previously any other Norwegian black metal records from the 2000’s made such an impact on me, then they were Taake’s “Noregs Vaapen” and “Hordaland Doedskvad”. Now I feel like Djevel is equally as good, sometimes maybe even better! Which is a great compliment from me, I think. 

What’s the fuzz about? Here's traditional Norwegian black metal, 100% purest and most classic. It obviously combines the cult Darkthrone-esque and Burzum-esque style with their harshness, grim aura and also simplicity, with (early) Satyricon, Kampfar and Taake-like melodic patterns, which all together give a cold, gloomy and hateful atmosphere. There's absolutely nothing innovative about Djevel music, but why would I care? "Saa raa og kald" is the perfect Norwegian black metal. But the high quality of their songwriting, with songs filled with splendid riffage, melodies, great vocals and just absolutely solid arrangements make this (and all other Djevel albums) a killer record. I think that from start to finish it's close to perfection and fits my preference in black metal almost completely. 

The music is mostly very fast, so you could imagine how well it sounds, when fast paced vicious riffage correspondents with majestic, memorable melodies. That aggression and blasting black metal doesn't influence the atmosphere in negative way at all. I mean the atmosphere of this music is always perfectly cold and monumental, maybe because some of these melodies are kind of folky. More so, arrangements and song structures are very interesting, Djevel often adds something extra to their songs, like some clean vocals (similar to Enslaved's Grutle!!) or acoustic guitar... It works very well obviously. And damn - when I listen to such songs like the title piece or "Vaar forbannede jord", then I immediately get goose skin. Killer, killer stuff and some of the best black metal recorded past 1994 in Norway, in my opinion. You may not agree, I don't give a fuck. Djevel is fantastic, in my opinion, their every record in top notch for me! Reco-fuckin-mmended!!! 

Standout tracks: "Saa raa og kald", "Vaar forbannede jord", "Hode og hals i doedsvals", “De som hadde onde oeyne” 

Verdict: 95/100