Black metal has moved in countless directions since its impetus, but it’s nice to see bands like Naturvidrig holding down the fort with a solid effort of no-frills, zero-bullshit material like on their self-titled full-length debut. Hailing from Sweden, Naturvidrig’s 2016 demo Sönderfall proved to be a promising collection of riffy, grooving black metal hatred, and the album proper shows a sharper vision, riffs caked in grime, and a specific type of cold hatred only found in Swedish black metal. On Naturvidrig, the band’s own take on black metal trims the proverbial fat, offering up lean, sinewy metal that eschews the influences game. Though Naturvidrig’s influences are apparent, what’s nice about this album is its sense of identity–it sounds distinctly like itself rather than a collection of the band’s favorite albums. It’s heavy, but still crispy; frigid, but active. Now slated to release Naturvidrig on Friday (more on that below), these Swedes could very well be your new favorite black metal band. What’s keeping you from checking them out?
Naturvidrig releases May 12th via Our Ancient Future.
