Jord is one of the most exhilaratingly taut blackgaze albums to drop in a very long while. Tackling a subgenre usually defined by its lingering cleanliness and slow pace, these Danish debutants inject their first full-length with direct songwriting (the longest track barely scratches six-and-a-half minutes), hardened riffs and black metal ferocity.
Brutal cuts such as Virga, Vakuum and Ligament carry the dissonance of old-school Scandinavian franticness, perpetuating sheer darkness at every available moment. The patented shoegaze ambience mostly sneaks into the fray with Møl’s use of undistorted lead guitars, which often find themselves dancing over manic rhythms and raging, screamed vocals. Storm and the title track also keep the atmospherics centre-stage through enchanting interludes to even out the otherwise destructive insanity that Jord relishes in. This is a black metal/shoegaze combo predominantly crafted for the extreme shred-loving headbanger.
