Review Summary: Taking a page from the Black and Pagan metal of yore.
Whoredom Rife is a fairly obscure Black metal band hailing from the ever-so-kvlt regions of Nidaros, Norway. Dommedagskvad is, in every way imaginable, your typical obfuscating variety of Nordic Black metal. It would still be unfair to completely write this record off however, because while the band is hardly breaking any boundaries, they certainly do a fantastic job keeping a rather stagnated genre alive. There are vicious riffs and echoed vocals with a cold winter aesthetic, relentless blast beats, and cathartic guitar solos such as those present off of “Beyond the Skies of God” (arguably the greatest song off this record). Aside from a rare use of symphonies, this is a very “no bull***” approach to Black metal that proves why the genre is the beast it is.
Of course, their rather straightforward approach does not come without repercussions. There isn’t much that can be said about this record that I cannot say about most other pure Black metal records out there. There might be some symphonies that creates a creeping sense of grandeur off of tracks like “Cursing the Storm to Come”, but once that is stripped away, their isn’t anything heavily unique bubbling underneath the surface, and you’re stuck with some very typical drumming and constant tremolo picks. Still, one cannot argue with the musical quality, as nearly every riff is headbanging and every drum pattern as ripping as the last. Tracks such as “Spir”, while hardly distinct, are imbued with massive amounts of energy that are almost definitely going to get your blood pumping, and with this in mind the records most present gripe isn’t necessarily so bad.
The other gripe about this record is also rather small, and that would be the mixing on the drums. There are some solid enough patterns going on throughout this album, however while most of the drumming is discernible amidst the chaos, the pedal itself is not. This is very forgivable, however, as it’s not immensely detrimental to the album as a whole. and the quality of the music more than makes up for it.
With everything I said in mind, this will not sweep you off your feet, this will not dazzle you with any sort of glitz or glamour, and it will not surprise you in any way shape or form. What it will do is supplement you with some sinister, riff-laden metal, because like I said earlier, this is a very tried-and-true method of black metal. The only difference with this is that Whoredom Rife executes it with slightly more finesse than the other.
