Originally released on tape in 2011, Ormgård are re-releasing the Ormblot demo on CD, via Forever Plagued Records. Ormblot was praised a lot within the black metal underground scene and the band itself was hysterically compared with black metal monsters such as Emperor.
Including three ambient songs and three black metal songs, the entire work is so 1990s that’s hard to think it’s only three years old. The ambient songs instantly put me somewhere between 1993 and 1995 when great projects like Mortiis or Satyr’s Wongraven were born. Of course, they don’t deliver ambient songs with forty minutes, but the ancient essence is so there: it’s slow and cold with dark ruined corridors on sight. The title-track profoundly embraced me with its very slow pace and with its compassed bells tolling that I even jumped on my chair when the ‘Hugsad’ track begun with the frozen and hostile guitar riffs. Hailing from Sweden, a country that has a well settled and modern black metal movement, but the band’s sound is so Germanic featuring fast yet melodic riffs combined with a wall of simple orchestrations that reach our ears through the keyboards. However, there is another characteristic that easily leads me to Finland because of the high-pitched vocals which may remind me a whole bunch of black metal acts.
The gelid landscapes are brought by songs like ‘Av Svartkonst & Fördärv’ which is the most demonic one in the demo. Telling a story about sorcery, Orm goes far and mixes the concept with the evilness of demons, being Satan the center of it all.
In sum, it’s hard for me to say this is really an iconic item. Yes, it’s worthy to listen, especially because of the ambient tracks and because of the 1990s spirit – now and then I still check the date and I figure out it’s a 2011 demo. Nowadays, I don’t really know what Orm wants to do, but according to the 2012 album, titled ////\, it seems black metal isn’t a priority as we have a dark ambient full-length.
7.0/10
Diogo Ferreira