Artist: Ofermod
Country: Sweden
Label: Shadow Records
Formats: LP / CD
Year: 2025
Never a dull moment with Ofermod, that’s for sure. ‘Drakosophia’ was released about two months ago, but it didn’t take many moons for the band to implode for the umpteenth time. The band’s past has always been turbulent, with no shortage of internal disputes, various prison sentences, alleged drug use and whatnot, but I think it’s safe to say that the last few years have been the most turbulent. First, there were the disagreements, mainly fought out online, with live bassist Dariusz “Shadow” Sieradzki of Black Altar and Odium Records, followed by the departure of the brand new (and unknown) Puerto Rican vocalist Adeptus. And, not entirely unexpectedly, we now have to deal with the sixth term of Nebiros (also from Malign). So, although Adeptus can still be heard on this new album, Ofermod is back in the unholy duo Belfagor/Nebiros, which is generally considered to be the real Ofermod.
Although Adeptus was previously part of Ofermod between 2019 and 2020, he had never had the honour of actually recording anything with the band. He can now tick that off his bucket list, but it is doubtful whether he enjoyed his five minutes of fame very much. What is beyond doubt, however, is that ‘Drakosophia’ has also turned out to be a masterful album.
For the most part, ‘Drakosophia’ is a textbook Ofermod album, you’re being treated on a plethora of contrarian riffs, dissonance, skincrawling melodies and rhythmic changes. But, compared to the most recent Ofermod records, ‘Drakosophia’ can be considered their most accessible to date. Partly that’s because of Adeptus’ more traditional way of singing. If you’re used to Nebiros or even Belfagor’s own voice, Adeptus isn’t quite the same in terms of depth and lacks a degree of persuasiveness. But, the main thing lies within the use of a bit of melody and the complexities in the song writing aren’t that challenging this time around.
Melody must be placed in the right context here, a context that fits with Ofermod’s tradition of never lingering too long in the same musical patterns and rhythms. However, the dragging nature of some of its predecessors is kept to a minimum here, and the emphasis is therefore much more on the guitar parts, while at the same time allowing the melody lines, which are normally pushed further into the background, to come to the fore a little more. All this clearly does not mean that “Drakosophia” has become an easy listening album. Watain may have taken most of its inspiration from Ofermod, but Watain is a seriously diluted version of what Ofermod has to offer in terms of depth and musical quality. But for those who have ignored Ofermod so far but find musical satisfaction in bands such as Funeral Mist/later Marduk, Mortuus, Ondskapt, Deathspell Omega or later Mayhem, they would do themselves a favour by finally making the switch to Ofermod.
Masterful, definitely, but within Ofermod’s impeccable discography, ‘Drakosophia’ isn’t going to find its place amongst their best recordings. It says a lot about Ofermod’s genius that ‘Drakosophia’ is nonetheless a Black Metal highlight of 2025.
