German Black metal stalwarts Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult have built a consistent catalog that is mainly comprised of six full lengths. The core trio has shared the same vision for over two decades and while there are very few surprises throughout their discography, the band are excellent at manipulating Black metal tropes in interesting ways. Saldorian Spell casts aside the ambience of Hora Nocturna to play around with Immortal’s direct approach while staying true to the melodic sensibilities of Emperor and Mayhem.
When dissected individually, the instruments seem to be exploring different paths yet the overall direction is unified and they all converge towards expressing one idea. The drums don’t follow every guitar transition, the bass is almost constantly playing counter melodies and the guitars diverge from each other but due to the close panning between them, they form halves of the riffs that are heard as one. The drums do stick to a constant beat to lull the listener throughout the less abrasive transitions but will suddenly explode into bombastic fills and then completely change the beat during the more dramatic transitions. This creates a sense of progression that guides the listener through the songs as the guitars stick to a constant tremolo stream.
The band glide through a limited amount of ideas on each song and build each composition around a specific riff that is repeated often and act as an anchor between the other riffs. Minute variations will be used during each reintroduction of the main riff and this allows the songs to keep a distinct identity without boring the listener. The melodies throughout the album do not reinvent the wheel in terms of note choice and length but avoid plagiarism by rapidly changing the notes within the melodies.
Saldorian Spell hints at both the early Norwegian movement and the rise of straightforward “blast first, create riffs after” bands but avoids the trappings of the latter with subtle shifts throughout. D.N.S manipulate details in a genre that focuses more on broad strokes and by doing so, they manage to create an interesting album that like the best of metal, fully reveals itself through multiple listens.
