After three years of practicing, writing, and enduring a global pandemic, Swedish/Dutch black metal/black punk band Dödsrit (Swedish for Death Rite) released their third album 'Mortal Coil' on the 28th of May. Released on cassette and vinyl by Wolves of Hades records, this album has to be their best yet right?
Christoffer Öster started the band in 2017 and after the second record ‘Spirit Crusher’ came out in 2018, he asked the following three Dutchmen to join him: Jelle, the bassist who also plays in Destructo and Nuclear Devastation. Brendan, the drummer who also plays in Morvigor, and Georgios Maxouris Decimus Meridius who is a gladiator on the weekend but a fierce guitarist/musical centipede during the week in Destructo, Mutilation Altar, Nuclear Devastation, and during live sessions of the Dutch black metal band Verwoed. And he is the owner of Wolves of Hades Records. And he recorded and produced ‘Mortal Coil'. And other albums. It is an understatement to say he is a busy man.
Furthermore, he did a great job recording and producing Dödsrit’s third album. The sound is so well balanced, that every instrument is decipherable. This is useful because the band fuses punk, black-atmospheric, and melodic-black metal, so there is a lot to hear. And in every album, there is a story to find. The trick is to find your own story by listening to an album and experience some sort of purification or catharsis. And Dödsrit’s ‘Mortal Coil‘ gave me just that. And I’m not going to tell you my story because that is the same as removing the helmet of a gladiator and see that it’s just a fat Australian actor with one fake front tooth. You remove the magic of this album and I so want you to experience their magic. 'Mortal Coil' has got so many relatable lyrics, great atmospheric parts, and such great riffs. Where other bands try to put as many riffs as possible into one song, Dödsrit just does not do that and play a riff long enough so you remember it and your brain can chew on it. It’s like making a broth, the longer you let it steep, the more taste it gets.
Damn, I’m talking about soup when it is 32° Celsius here, time to wrap this up. Dödsrit’s 'Mortal Coil' is a fucking great album and you should listen to it. Period.
Tracklist:
The Third Door
Shallow Graves
Mortal Coil
Apathetic Tongues