Den Saakaldte - All Hail Pessimism

DEN SAAKALDTE - All Hail Pessimism (AVANTGARDE - CD 2009)

First time I wrote a review of "All Hail Pessimism" was right after this album was released and back then this album really impressed me a lot. Den Saakaldte was an unknown project – as it turned out, it featured some more or less known members of other black metal bands. Like Niklas Kvarforth from Shining, but because I’m not big fan of this particular band, so I didn’t care much for who plays in Den Saakaldte (although I do have to admit that Niklas did killer job on this album, his vocals sound excellent). What mattered was that “All Hail Pessimism” was a brilliant album and it really captured my attention fully. It had everything – great songwriting, excellent arrangements and ideas, great feeling and atmosphere and in the end, it was one of those albums, which were hard to stop to listen to. You just wanted more and more. 

Anyway, "All Hail Pessimism" is one of those albums, which has many, many layers within its black metal scheme. There are many aspects, which make this album a truly memorable and fascinating – from different additional instruments, black metal styles, etc. I suppose that for me the best thing that has been presented here is the brass section. Which just like in Sear Bliss (one of my favourite bands ever) works fantastically when played together with black metal riffage. It creates very epic, majestic and truly unique atmosphere, showing that not necessarily keyboards can make the best feeling in black metal music. Unlike in Sear Bliss, here trumpets have been used only few times, but it was enough to stick in my mind and impress (check "Drikke Ens Skål" and "Jag Är Den Fallna"). At the same time keyboards are non present at all, instead some piano lines have been played here and there, like in "Den Endelige Tankens Ufravikelige Konsekvens". But I have to mention "Frykten For Det Opprinnelige Øde", which reminds me Dodheimsgard a lot, which is probably why it stack in my head so much haha. 

The main black metal aspect of "All Hail Pessimism" is also as diverse as it only can, so prepare yourself to witness many different black metal styles. There's this savage, harsh and fast paced stuff, more traditional black metal like in “La vinteren vare evig” or "Mesias", there’s more mid paced, very Mayhem-like black metal in excellent 11 minutes long "Jag Är Den Fallna" and sometimes you will hear slower, more sorrowful stuff also. Here and there I can even hear a bit of Thorns. The album is nearly 70 minutes long, so this was the only way to keep it interesting all the way through from start to finish. Den Saakaldte managed to do that perfectly. Kvarforth also kept his vocals as diverse as it is possible, but I’m not gonna mention all the vocal styles he did here, you better listen to it yourself. All in all, I think that there’s a great balance between all these different layers, the album is dynamic, it is melodic and memorable, it is epic but also harsh and aggressive when needed. So, do not let these more complicated song structures and longer tracks repel you. Give "All Hail Pessimism" as many listens as you need, but give it a chance, as it is a great and quite unique album, in my opinion. Definitely worth having. 

Standout tracks: “La vinteren vare evig”, "Drikke Ens Skål" 

Verdict: 90/100