Sjukdom — Stridshymner Og Dodssalmer
Norwegian band Sjukdom, meaning Disease in english, was launched in 2011. During its existence, the group has released a fair small discophphy. In 2013, their CDr demo was released, and a bit later, in the same year, the self-released Cdr of the first full-length album Nar Alt Morkner was released. And now, after 5 years, and several personnel changes, Sjukdom returns with their second full-length album.
This new album is entitled Stridshymner Og Dodssalmer, which translates as Battle Hymns And Deadly Salts, was released by the famous cult French label Osmose Productions, in the form of Cd, LP, and digital version.
The album cover is made in cool, dirty blue tones. Winter twilight, blizzard, the ruins of the city and a burning tank ... immediately parallels with the album Panzer Division Marduk by Swedish black metal veterans Marduk. In the middle of the top, against the black sky is the white Sjukdom logo, made in the classic black metal style - stylized Gothic letters, in the middle - a kind of horns and a mask with a beak, which was used by collectors of corpses during the plague in the Middle Ages. In general, the logo tells us what kind of disease is meant by the name of the group. At the bottom of the cover, the name of the album is written in gothic style. Despite the fact that I am not a big fan of the use of military themes in black metal, the cover here seemed rather successful and atmospheric
The album, with a total duration of exactly thirty five minutes, consists of seven tracks. And from the first riffs, the listener is immersed in the atmosphere of classic grim & cold black metal of the golden era of which occurred in the mid-90s of the 20th century. With a slightly more modern sound, Sjukdom brings us back to the days of the classic albums of Marduk, Satyricon, Gorgoroth and so on. All compositions are performed at a fairly fast pace, though, we do often get effective riff switching occurring in a single track. Throughout the album, we hear the classic black metal guitar tremolo, which reproduces fairly simple but interesting melodic lines, without compromise or departure from the canons of the genre. I would like to mention the professionalism of guitarists and bass guitarists. Everything is played cleanly, evenly and aggressively. I also really liked the work of the drummer. Unfortunately, it seems to me that the sound of the snare drum is somewhat indistinct, but this does not spoil the overall sound picture.
As for the vocals - the work of the vocalist is beyond praise. We can hear the full range of vocal variations used in black metal. From screaming to growling. Vocals are aggressive, without the slightest hint of any lyrical digressions from the classical foundations of the genre.
Despite the fact that I am a fan of a more raw and atmospheric variety of Black metal, I really liked the sound of the whole album. The aggression is not to the detriment of the melody, speed is quite intense, but not extremely high, there’s a good balance of sound — guitars, bass, drums, and vocals are clearly audible, and they all remain balanced in the overall sound picture.
I can’t say that I have not heard anything new or original from Sjukdom on this album. Everything that was played by them could well have been played by someone else. To be honest, this review could consist of just a few words - Sjukdom plays in tradition of Scandinavian black metal of the mid-90s. And I think that this phrase would be the best reason for black metal fans to turn their attention to this album and the band.
Undoubtedly, for any band, it is necessary to have originality and its own recognizable face. But sometimes, in order to attract attention, it is very good to do tribute the past, go back to the origins of the genre, & not experiment. No need to change something that works so well.