Hulder - Verses In Oath

Hulder is a one-woman black metal band currently located in Washington, though she is originally from Belguim.  Her newest album, "Verses In Oath" is the project's second full length album; three demos, two EPs, on comp and a live album have always been released.

"Verses In Oath" is an incredibly well rounded album with a variety of moods and styles presented within it's 40 minute runtime.

Of course, being black metal, the sound is, overall, vicious, raw and cold.   But despite having no issues embracing the black metal ways of the old, Hulder isn't afraid to put her on spin on a tried and true sound.  The overall atmosphere of the album has a 'warm' sound too it, everything enveloped within a cocoon of very tight songwriting.

The album's flow is also impressive and doesn't have any real moments where it doesn't know what it wants or where it needs to go.  From beginning to end, Hulder lays down her blackened tapestry and it fits snuggly no matter what moves underneath it. 

Clean vocals, synths/keys, folk, and even some death metal elements all find a home here---the dynamics of the songs are always fully embraced without the songs being stretched too thin or wandering aimlessly.  

"An Elegy" opens the album with crows and wind building up into the first proper track, "Boughs Ablaze."

This song begins with straight up fury, escalated by the drums. The keys have a soft but important touch to the background, increasing the atmosphere while lifting the guitars up, which are charred black in tone and groovy.

The later half of the song lets the keys take over and the results are darkly majestic and more than a little haunting.

The title track, "Verses In Oath," explodes into a miasma of deathly violence. The energy and mood is captured and released by the slower riffs in between the much faster movements.  The small details reveal themselves over time, taking a song that seems like it's nothing more than caustic extremity and opening it up to a much wider picture.  The keys and lead guitar are both subtle but also help change the nature of the song.

"An Offering" separates the two halves of the album with a folk laden interlude that is actually interesting and flows seamlessly into "Cast Into The Well Of Remembrance," which is one of my favorite songs on the album.

The slower pace is perfectly complimented by the rolling drums and Hulder's vocal patterns are surprisingly catchy. Around the 1:50 mark, the music repositions itself as a blazing ice storm and transforms into an absolutely searing movement before effortlessly slowing the tempo back down again but bolstered by robust double bass. 

The final song is "Veil Of Penitence," and it is a banger, the only way to end this journey.  The tempo fluctuates throughout the song but along the way the notes form a daring song that captures, and highlights, everything that makes the album so special.

All in all, Hulder's "Verses In Oath" is a black metal album that impresses early in the year but will have no trouble proving it's staying power as the flood of releases grows ever higher.  This is a standout example of how potent and powerful one-person bands can be.