Artist: Gnipahålan
Country: Sweden
Label: Purity Through Fire
Formats: CD
Year: 2024
At the very frayed ends of 2024 the overly-prolific Swartadauþuz comes with yet another record. I haven’t really counted his work this year, but at the beginning of 2024 he claimed to come up with at least 20 new records, a quick glance learns that he met that goal somewhere in the middle. Still, 10 records is an awful lot of to digest in just one year. For 2025 Swartadauþuz published another list of records that should see the light of the day in the coming twelve months, including no less than six Bekëth Nexëhmü recordings. Each time I think it can’t be more extreme in terms of musical output, he proves me otherwise. In itself this steep working pace shouldn’t be a real problem, but Swartadauþuz seems to have this uncontrollable tendency to just release everything and preferably under different names. The result is, as expected, not always that good or inspiring.
Among his better projects belongs Gnipahålan, a band that that at least feels a bit more versatile and not too much of a repetition or rehashing of already used ideas – I dare you put on a random Bekëth Nexëhmü and tell me which one it is. One of the main differences between Gnipahålan and the majority of Swartadauþuz’ other bands is that here he works with a truly talented drummer. Taaken, best known as the founding member of the great and underrated Odal, really knows how to keep things interesting. In many of his other bands Swartadauþuz works with lesser gods, so the creativity and the dynamics that Taaken brings to the table is definitely a breath of fresh air. Otherwise ‘Folkstorm’ is not serving you with anything you haven’t already heard before: it is a solid record with solid Swartadauþuz-riffs, synths and vocals.
The synths, however, do play a less prominent role compared to the majority of the band’s earlier output. Although that allows the music to become a bit more lively by the guitars and especially the great drums taking centerstage, it takes away a bit of the tried and tested Gnipahålan-formula. This may be something that some will find somewhat unfortunate, but this does give this particular band a much more distinct identity from Swartadauþuz’ other bands. Fans of the tried and tested nature of any of his previous music should not be afraid though, Gnipahålan is still very much recognizably the work of the Black Metal centipede.
Still, all things considered, all of the record’s individual aspects constitute an entertaining album. But, truth be told, it will also be no more than mild entertainment. What also doesn’t help matters is the long playing time of nearly 75 minutes, quite a long ride, especially when the music actually feels like two or three songs on repeat. At the risk of being a stuck-up gramophone, I actually repeat this in every Swartadauþuz-related review, I stick to my mantra: keep it short and reduce the number of bands and releases and instead focus on quality.
