Ah yes, Black Metal, the undisputed industry leader in the one-person-performs-all-of-the-music subgenre. 

Not sure why that is, but it seems like you can’t swing a dead cat in a burned down church without hitting seemingly dozens of these acts. One of the latest of these projects to hit my desk is Washington’s Hulder with Verses in Oath (20 Buck Spin).

And if you’re a card-carrying member of the corpsepaint brigade then Hulder (Marliese Osborne) has plenty of things to entice you with. 

Do you want a production that can be best described as sub-studio quality? You got it. Drums and blast beats buried in the mud? Yes, sir. Do you like the sound of a creepy bird, like a raven, perhaps? Well, we’ve got one cawing for what seems like several minutes in the intro track.

Not just that, but if you buy now, we’ll also throw in several out of focus forest shots in the promotional materials.Very kvlt. 

Okay, not trying to bury Verses in Oath here as there are very interesting moments throughout this sophomore full-length release. 

“Hearken the End” may be mostly mid-tempo but there is great atmosphere between the guitars, keys and ghostly chanted vocals. The title track unfortunately is a bit hampered by the lo-fi mix, but it’s a barnstormer in terms of tempo and aggression. 

Imagine what that beast could’ve been if it had somebody like Kevin Talley behind the kit. “Vessel of Suffering” is another wrecker that destroys homes and tears families apart. 

But then there are moments that fall under the Black Metal genre tropes. Do we need two instrumentals like “Lamentation” and “An Offering” on one album? 

Not really, especially not back-to-back.

Black Metal fans will dig Verses in Oath, but I can’t help but wonder what the genre will sound like if more artists were willing to expand it further. 

Buy the album here:
https://20buckspin.bandcamp.com/album/verses-in-oath

7 / 10
HANS LOPEZ