Review Summary: The true sound of the demonic mill.
Woddrea Mylenstede are a relatively unknown and exceptionally lo-fi black metal band from England, the name Woddrea Mylenstede itself translates from old English into demonic mill. This proves to be a very apt description of what the band projects musically and sonically within their releases. Having released a self titled demo back in 2011 they are still pretty much an unknown band with their split with Black Cilice in 2013 garnering a bit more attention and making their name a little more known within the black metal underground. Woddrea Mylenstede share a common bond with the aforementioned Black Cilice as well as other bands such as Carved Cross and Durazis in the sound they achieve with their recorded material, fans of these projects will no doubt be taken by the sound and feel of this album as it shares many similar aesthetics whilst still retaining it’s own identity.
After having released two previous demo tapes, a rehearsal tape and the aforementioned split with Black Cilice, Woddrea Mylsentede are here three years later with what is their debut lp which has taken all of the early promise of their demos and ran with it creating a work of black twisted genius. On Creda Beaducwealm Woddrea Mylenstede have finally found the perfect balance within their recorded sound. Everything manages to stay raw and dissonant with a distant sound that only manages to compound the atmosphere they create whilst still managing to retain the details that allow you to immerse yourself within the record.
The record shifts between slower and quicker passages with the changes of pace throughout the songs always seeming to come at the perfect moments. Tracks build to harrowing crescendos as caveman like minimal drumming builds underneath rung notes echoing out creating claustrophobic and paranoia inducing feelings of tension, all before a wall of blast beats crashes down making you realise your worst fears have came to life. Almost delving into drone territory at some points with walls of feedback keeping you held on edge as you await the next unfolding horror of your nightmares.
The individual tracks themselves are not what make the record work, but more the fact that the 6 tracks coalesce together to become more than the sum of their individual parts. The entire record comes together in a torturous ending with the arrival of the final song Hygecraeft (Eardgiefu), the solitary kick drum and snare of the tracks opening being punctuated by tortured howls. As things plod forward guitars slowly building giving the feeling of a withered man being dragged unmercifully to eventual barbaric end.
In the pantheon of black metal this is not a release for the casual listener but more so the committed few who dare to delve into it’s dark twisted unknown and explore the realms of human depravity. A release that projects and burrows into the dark corners of the human psyche conjuring up images of lifeless decaying souls in a medieval torture chamber, their distant screams barely registering above the cacophony as they howl out into the abyss with their last breaths.
