The Finnish black metal trio Förgjord was formed in the distant nineties of the last century, as a band called Brightness of Darkness. Then, after a few changes in names, settled on the Swedish word Förgjord ,which translates to 'Destroyed'. Over their career the band has put out a split, one mini-album, and five full-length albums, the last of which is Ilmestykset, which appeared this year as a joint release between Finnish label Werewolf Records & American label Hells Headbangers.

Ilmestykset, which means ‘Revelations’, was released as a CD with a 12-page booklet, as well as in digital form. The cover of the album is an aged black and white photograph of a village house in the snow. In the upper right corner is the albums title, under which is the name of the band. Both words are written in the likeness of a handwritten gothic font, one colour and one size. The name of the album and the name of the band written together create the impression of a single logo. As for the cover in general, I would characterize it as a classic cover of the Scandinavian bands of the first wave of black metal. In particular, I had persistent associations with the covers of the early Burzum and the early Carpathian Forest.

The album consists of eight tracks of different lengths, with a total album runtime of just over forty-one minutes. The album begins with a keyboard intro, which is a mixture of Dungeon Synth, Ritual Ambient and various voice samples. Following the intro begins the blacked metal heart of the release, which I’d like to review as a whole because it seems very rather solid & focused release

Förgjord represents to us a rather energetic and moderately raw black metal, created at the junction of several styles- very classic Scandinavian black metal, echoes of Viking/ pagan metal, as well as the classic heavy metal. The tracks are quite diverse in their compositional structure and have several tempo changes during one song. There are no very high-speed rhythms here, the maximum speeds on this album can be described as close to thrash metal in the spirit of Slayer, which is typical of early Scandinavian black metal bands. Along with melodic guitar tremolo, there are energetic and groovy riffs of almost punk rock and heavy metal styles, which undoubtedly enlivens the album. There is also a number of slow lyrical themes that have a fairly atmospheric sound, thanks to the use of background keyboards and melody.

I would characterize what Förgjord, does on Ilmestykset, as a mix of Gorgoroth around Antichrist  & Under The Sign Of Hell, Old Man’s Child, Darkthrone and Judas Priest. As for the albums mix, it seemed to me that the bass needed to be given a little more attention. The overall production seemed to be a bit blurry, perhaps this is due to the lack of a sufficient level of bass. I especially want to praise the vocalist for a job well done. Mostly we hear classic screaming black metal vocals, however, it has a rather pleasant abrasive timbre, that does not hurt your ears. The inserts of clean vocals are just as good. It is also worth mentioning that the atmosphere of the album , starting from the music and finishing the cover, is designed exactly in the style of classic black metal, which I personally like very much.

In general, the album left a good impression. Nowadays it is difficult to create a black metal masterpiece, but it is quite possible to make a strong and good album…and that’s exactly what Förgjord have done with Ilmestykset.