Artist: Blótskål
Country: The Netherlands
Label: WolfKult Religion
Formats: Cassette EP
Year: 2026
The Blótskål originates from the old Norse words blót and skál, and joined together translates to something like sacrificial bowl. It was central to the blót, a sacrificial offering in Pagan Viking and German rituals, in which the Blótskål was used to hold and sprinkle sacrificial blood. The purpose of the ritual was to create a relation of reciprocity with the gods, a matter of “I give you, so that you give us”. A ritual of thanks, for fertility, good harvest and to steer the tides of peace and victory. It is against this backdrop that we introduce the band Blótskål, a union of musicians from the North of the Netherlands consisting of Swerc (of Salacious Gods, Uuntar, Volc Vermaledide, Nortfalke, and many more present and former bands) and The Specter (of Old Tower, Bad Omen and Fír and amongst others formerly Ravenzang and Wampyric Specter).
Despite that ‘Afloat the Nocturnal Current’ is the band’s first output it is immediately clear that we are dealing with seasoned musicians, as the debut of Blótskål is highly impressive from start to finish. On the EP we find cold Black Metal with Folk influences, mostly in the vein of the first two albums of Satyricon, but also likeliness to the later work of Arckanum and, perhaps more distantly, early Kampfar can be heard. Blótskål entrances with the rattling urgency of the drums, the icy riffs and piercing shrieks and atmospheric hum of the keyboards. Epic in undertone, at times the Folk aspects are crystal clear, but overall they mostly stem forth for how the keyboards carry the melody and aura of the tracks. Take the humming lines of ‘Towering Nebula Burst’ for instance, and you are immediately transported to ‘Dark Medieval Times’ and ‘The Shadowthrone’. Clearly, what Blótskål does is by no means original. But what they do is extremely convincing.
The band acts on the premise of that a good riff is the basis of everything, and a few good riffs are enough. By playing with tonality of passages, they maintain a certain tension of development, while keeping the hooks of the songs recognisable. And the riffs are in full honor of the riffmaster of Satyricon themselves, and a band like Darkthrone: to the point, addictive, and full of hooks. The ‘Deep Fog, The Forest Claws’ is a particularly great example. I love the tapping riffs in that track, the continuous thundering of the drum, the droning melody of the keyboards and the snarling shrieks of The Specter. ‘Striding the Spiritual Hills’ opens in a somewhat more midpaced manner, with a slightly thicker sense of bombast, and the humming of the keyboards delightfully carry their tune onwards as the pace quickens. With interspersed samples the song has the feeling of a Pagan ritual. All tallied up ‘Afloat the Nocturnal Current’ comes in at just over 30 minutes, in my humble opinion the ideal length for a Black Metal release, both for the sake of keeping its intensity, and my attention span.
Quite simply put, this is one of the best releases on the WolfKult Religion label, and for me also one of the best Dutch Black Metal releases of the last few years. Cold Black Metal attack with folkloric influences, crafted within the deep northern regions of the Lowlands: I couldn’t have summed it better than the band did. If old Satyricon quickens the pace of your black heart, make sure to join on this nocturnal current.
