Nortt
Galgenfrist
Avantgarde
Live slow, die young, leave a mutilated corpse
The funeral doom aficionados among you should by now be familiar with the despressive dirge that is Denmark’s Nortt. The casual listener, however, could be forgiven for overlooking this one-man blackdoom behemoth, whose idea of releasing an album begins and ends with a few hundred copies and negligible distribution. Avantgarde’s stewardship of Galgenfrist, Nortt’s fifth non-demo release if you include his split album with Xasthur, should at least arouse further curiosity in an artist more than worthy of the attention of those who congregate at the cursed crossroads where funeral doom, dark ambient and post-black metal meet.
If you’re new to Nortt, forget what you think you know about slow. Sunn O))) may have popularized drone in the arty press, but Galgenfrist takes grimnity beyond nihilism, misanthropy, bitterness and hate to a place no New York Times Magazine scribe would ever want to go. Wretched, agonizing distortions drag themselves hopelessly along like a dying dog, while unlit depths, punctured by despondent groans and growls, haunt the void spaces in between. Make no mistake; it’s a bad scene. But Nortt has mutated and modulated the sound of his chosen genres to the point where none takes precedent and all are slaves to the black whole. Others have tried; Nortt has succeeded. Let’s hope he stays alive for a few more albums yet. —Damien
