Cult underground polish Black Metal ! Reissue of 1997 demo.
Jewelcase CD. Limited to 300 copies!
Hödur were a relatively unknown Polish horde (Hödur not Hodur, see the logo!) which was considered somewhat a cult band already at their heyday in the mid-later nineties by those with a preference for the rawer end of Black Metal, which at the time was saturated with keyboard-drenched melodicism. This is certainly not the sweet easy-listening material typical of the era. The ideology might pose a problem for the more politically correct listeners, as you might be able to tell from the swastika/inverted cross sporting logo. The focus would seem to be more on the Satanic, flavoured with NSBM themes.
This tape, which I believe is really the second demo instead of a full-lenght cassette album (though it can be a bit hard to tell at times which one is supposed to be) contains 8 tracks, which range from the 2:25 quickie "Salve Satanas" to 5:58 of the ending track "The Majesty". This makes for a compact package ticking just over thirty minutes, which is just about the perfect lenght for this material. The overall sound is harsh, chaotic and very typical for the demos of the time. It's not the Les Legions Noires-level of noise, however, so fear not. The instruments are well enough audible, with the guitar furiously buzzing away over pounding drums. There is no audible bass, obviously as the line-up doesn't feature a bassist, but that is often the case with BM bands employing a bassist as well. The vocals are raspy screaming with some echo, unfortunately they get a bit too much buried in the generic wall of noise. I'd like them to be a bit more on the front as the singer manages to cough up quite a bit of bile and venom. Most of the songs are in-your-face, straight-ahead and fast pieces of blistering, chaotic Black Metal, but there are melodies to be heard as well as is some Darkthronish catchiness. Overall, they borrow more from the Nordic school than the typical Polish from of BM.
The opener "Breath Of War" wastes no time for intros, just tuning in rapid & raw before slowing to midtempo when the vocals come in at 30 seconds. Things speed up again after one minute mark, also muddling the vocals. The pace keeps alternating between faster & midtempo, there's even a break at two minutes. The song ends with "BREATH OF WAAAAAAARRR!" and it's time to move to the second track "Unpure Race" which is perhaps to most memorable one with it's middle-eastern melodies and rabid fast parts. I love the way the song starts slowly, alternating between slower and FAST parts until it kicks into motion around minute. Much of the song is arguably Norsecore, but it works. A standout track. Third song "Victory!!!" clocks over five minutes and feels slightly lenghty after the previous, efficient track. It's not bad though. "In the Kingdom..." is a shorter piece, fast, aggressive yet melodic. The fifth track "salve Satanas" employs the same formula of alternating between raging fast and more midtempo. It's nothing special, except maybe the ending where is repeated screams of "Salve Satanas" sound almost whispery due the mix. Following song "The Aim" is solid basic fare again, spiced up by interesting guitar picking in the middle and the end. The next song "Antichrist/Lucifer" however draws more attention by straying from the form here. It has a cool old-school feel and a Darkthronish vibe to it. I thought first it was a cover (there are one or two, maybe even three tracks titled "Antichrist" around after all) but if it is I can't tell whose. There's even a guitar solo. Another standout. The recording ends with "The Majesty" which is the longest one here. It is the most atmospheric too, having even some acoustic guitars. A good one again and a great way to end the tape.
I'm slightly surprised no-one's yet rereleased this, considering not only it's quality (well above average) but the current NSBM fad too. It's kvlt as fvkk after all. Kidding aside, this is a worthy release to track down if you enjoy raw BM and will not be put off by their ideological side.
Sample: youtube.com/watch?v=hVBgqH3lf54&t=1209s
