The dissolution of Nifelheim he pushed Hellbutcher to start this new project – with some of the members of the aforementioned band and the Bloodbath – which immediately produced its fruits in 2022 with an excellent demo and many good intentions for the future. The future is rather close, since just after two years, the first album of this new line-up is released.
The artwork is really eye-catching: it looks like a dark, Nazgullized version of Hectorthe mascot of the Hammerfall, who wears a mask on which an inverted cross is painted in white. Also worthy of mention is the logo, at the top right, which is very reminiscent of that of Nifelheim.
There are eight tracks that compose Hellblutcher for just over half an hour of excellent music with an 80s flavour. Yes, because net of the singing of For Gustafssonthe effect is that of the hourglass: it seems as if it has been overturned and time has gone back to the golden age of metal, thus setting aside the past in Nifelheim, with that typically Swedish sound that had projected them into the extreme universe of metal music. Everything is supported by technical musicians who know how to make music and propose really incisive, wicked and catchy riffs, which manage to make this album slide away with great ease.
We start off strong, with the single that launched the album, The Sword of Wrath and its oriental intro: strong and determined, it is the perfect appetizer for what we will soon consume, that is, a diabolical fusion between Swedish black metal and strong heavy influences with a very catchy groove, which give a notable freshness and dynamism to the album. This trait is tangible in the first six of the eight songs that make up the album and more evidently in the second single, Hordes of the Horned Godanother example of harmonic force. Death’s Rider And Possessed By The Devil’s Flames they are a wonderful homage to the 80s, with pleasant guitar playing that recalls the bands of the time. They close Satan’s Power – which opens with a sulphurous yet ancestral scream – and Inferno’s Ragewhich could wink – and also listen – to the frontman’s past: his fans will certainly appreciate it.
The Hellbutcher they present themselves with an excellent album and a very convincing, clean and linear production system; an appropriate musical proposal, which is the natural historical evolution of Nifelheim and in a certain sense it clears them from the purely and properly underground universe of melodic black metal – it would be a huge mistake to attribute this label to the new band – also because the harmonic section is strongly conditioned by the heavy scene and in particular by Iron Maiden: the two singles, The Sword of Wrath And Hordes of the Horned Godare more than clear proof of this.
A record that has a strong soul. Black.
