Review by JD on February 2, 2013.

The strength of Doom Metal is in the crucial mixture of a strong melody, looming and ponderous heaviness that can cause seismographic rumblings and this strong feeling of gloom and bleakness. If one of these parts is missing or is horribly out of place, the point of Doom becomes laughable. Many have tried, some have failed miserably and some have gloriously succeeded.

Sweden’s Void Moon plays a sort of slightly up-tempo Doom Metal with an added bonus element of just a little hint of Groove Metal into it. The end results is that the music is so infectious yet very heavy - Doom Metal that seems to draw you into its lyrics - some based on the writings and teachings of Alistair Crowley and others on the cause and effects of nightmares. With crushing riffs and sombre vocals, Void Moon develops music that seems to hold your attention from the first track until your head stops banging at the end of the CD.

Out of the nine songs, I think the two favourites are the nailing heavy title track and the other is the infectious 'The Word And The Abyss'. The other songs here are very good as well, don’t get me wrong, but I seem to have an true sort of affinity for both of these songs right from the first time that I heard them.

It seems that the mighty Void Moon has found their mojo, and have set out on a path to Doom the whole world. I just think that they just might succeed in doing so... if this album is any indication of things to come. My money is on this Swedish Doom-de-force.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 9
Production: 9
Originality: 9
Overall: 9

Rating: 9.0 out of 10

Review by Fernando on May 7, 2023.

An unholy Finnish and American alliance, Veriluola, is a blackened death metal band that spawned seemingly out of nowhere with a crushing demo back in 2020, and have now unleashed their full length album through Nameless Grave Records.

Since there’s not much on the band I’ll be brief. The mastermind seems to be the Finnish musician known as Santeri, who handles guitars and bass, and the band had a change of vocalists between the release of the demo and the making of this record. The new vocalist and second guitarist is multi-instrumentalist Malus, from the projects Disheaded and Apokatastasis. Now for the actual important part. Veriluola play blackened death metal, and their particular style is very much indebted to the early 90’s, particularly Hellenic black metal and Mortuary Drape. The sound the band crafted for themselves is very melodic but very crushing and relentless. If there can be any comparison, it would be if Archgoat played in the style of the aforementioned Mortuary Drape, without losing any of their trademarked grit.

On a more specific level, the riffs are the main highlight, both Santeri and Malus do an excellent job of playing fast, slow and midpace riffs, complemented by some equally good solo work and a knack for groove to keep each song interesting. Malus’s vocals are also a highlight, they’re appropriately demonic and unrelenting, his deep gurgling growls and screeches add that little extra death metal brutality that’s reminiscent of early black and death metal, but without sounding like some soulless pastiche of much better growls from the past. The bass work, also courtesy of Santeri, is excellent, it’s very deep and contrasts well with the downtuned guitars. And finally the drumming, it’s also good, though the band didn’t credit a drummer in the promos, however, I can at least appreciate that they’re real drums, which is always a plus.

In terms of musical chops and skill the band has all their bases covered, and in practice as a unit they truly shine. And this is odd because at least for the time being, this is still a studio project, so to see them play music that would feel at home on a stage is commendable. Furthermore, while the band do very well playing fast, their true strength is when they slow down. The track ‘Enthralled By The Blaze’ is one of the highlights in that sense, it’s a slow track but it’s also heavy, melancholic and despondent, near the end a sinister organ plays and it feels natural, and more impressively, it doesn’t feel like the band added a doom metalish track just for the hell of it, the song is in line with the rest of the album and works as an excellent midpoint break before returning to pure savagery with the longest track ‘Impish Insurrection’, which is also one of the highlights and display all of the band’s strengths flawlessly. And the album closes in an appropriately sinister note as well with ‘Eternal Knights’, so all in all, a perfectly paced and well executed package that will check all the boxes any fan of extreme metal would want, while also adding something that’s modern and forward thinking while being rooted in the old school.

The final aspect to note is the band’s production, it's actually a very well produced record. The sound is polished but not to the point of sounding plastic, and it’s actually to the band’s advantage because the music presented here wouldn’t sound as striking as it is if it had the usual raw and gritty production of most black metal. So all in all, the band clearly know what they’re doing and know exactly what their music needs, and how they want to sound, and the final product speaks for itself.

Overall, Veriluola succeeded in making a kickass record that’s also out of time, in the sense that their music is unapologetically vintage, yet with a modern shine that also puts it above any other revivalist or copycat out there. Highly recommended to any fan of black, death or just extreme heavy music.

Best tracks: ‘Anguished Soul Collective’, ‘Enthralled By The Blaze’, ‘Impish Insurrection’, ‘Eternal Knights’

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Fernando on May 7, 2023.

An unholy Finnish and American alliance, Veriluola, is a blackened death metal band that spawned seemingly out of nowhere with a crushing demo back in 2020, and have now unleashed their full length album through Nameless Grave Records.

Since there’s not much on the band I’ll be brief. The mastermind seems to be the Finnish musician known as Santeri, who handles guitars and bass, and the band had a change of vocalists between the release of the demo and the making of this record. The new vocalist and second guitarist is multi-instrumentalist Malus, from the projects Disheaded and Apokatastasis. Now for the actual important part. Veriluola play blackened death metal, and their particular style is very much indebted to the early 90’s, particularly Hellenic black metal and Mortuary Drape. The sound the band crafted for themselves is very melodic but very crushing and relentless. If there can be any comparison, it would be if Archgoat played in the style of the aforementioned Mortuary Drape, without losing any of their trademarked grit.

On a more specific level, the riffs are the main highlight, both Santeri and Malus do an excellent job of playing fast, slow and midpace riffs, complemented by some equally good solo work and a knack for groove to keep each song interesting. Malus’s vocals are also a highlight, they’re appropriately demonic and unrelenting, his deep gurgling growls and screeches add that little extra death metal brutality that’s reminiscent of early black and death metal, but without sounding like some soulless pastiche of much better growls from the past. The bass work, also courtesy of Santeri, is excellent, it’s very deep and contrasts well with the downtuned guitars. And finally the drumming, it’s also good, though the band didn’t credit a drummer in the promos, however, I can at least appreciate that they’re real drums, which is always a plus.

In terms of musical chops and skill the band has all their bases covered, and in practice as a unit they truly shine. And this is odd because at least for the time being, this is still a studio project, so to see them play music that would feel at home on a stage is commendable. Furthermore, while the band do very well playing fast, their true strength is when they slow down. The track ‘Enthralled By The Blaze’ is one of the highlights in that sense, it’s a slow track but it’s also heavy, melancholic and despondent, near the end a sinister organ plays and it feels natural, and more impressively, it doesn’t feel like the band added a doom metalish track just for the hell of it, the song is in line with the rest of the album and works as an excellent midpoint break before returning to pure savagery with the longest track ‘Impish Insurrection’, which is also one of the highlights and display all of the band’s strengths flawlessly. And the album closes in an appropriately sinister note as well with ‘Eternal Knights’, so all in all, a perfectly paced and well executed package that will check all the boxes any fan of extreme metal would want, while also adding something that’s modern and forward thinking while being rooted in the old school.

The final aspect to note is the band’s production, it's actually a very well produced record. The sound is polished but not to the point of sounding plastic, and it’s actually to the band’s advantage because the music presented here wouldn’t sound as striking as it is if it had the usual raw and gritty production of most black metal. So all in all, the band clearly know what they’re doing and know exactly what their music needs, and how they want to sound, and the final product speaks for itself.

Overall, Veriluola succeeded in making a kickass record that’s also out of time, in the sense that their music is unapologetically vintage, yet with a modern shine that also puts it above any other revivalist or copycat out there. Highly recommended to any fan of black, death or just extreme heavy music.

Best tracks: ‘Anguished Soul Collective’, ‘Enthralled By The Blaze’, ‘Impish Insurrection’, ‘Eternal Knights’

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Aaron on July 15, 2005.

Right to brass tacks; Urgehal are ugly. Ugly, ugly people making ugly,ugly old school Norwegian Black Metal for ugly, ugly reasons. The minute you look at the cover of Through Thick Fog Til Death, a truly grim black and white photo of guitarist Enzifier looking like one of the Cenobites from Hellraiser cutting into some poor, winsome girl in a graveyard, you know this is not going to appeal to higher aesthetics of beauty. This is a good(?) thing, as beauty has no place in this collection of odes to Satan, Blasphemy and the eradication of the few billion souls who unfortunately share the planet with them.

Urgehal take the driving tempo of Carpathian Forest and mix it with the chill atmosphere of A Blaze in the Northern Sky-era Darkthrone for a truly demented onslaught. Originally including a keyboardist in the lineup, Urgehal eliminated the keyboard and are no worse off for it. Indeed, after listening to Through Thick Fog Til Death I don’t see how keyboards could do anything but detract from the overall atmosphere of the music. Drummer Uruz (of Crest of Darkness) and bassist Sregroth lay down an incessant blackened thrash gallop that the raging guitars both trample on top of and alongside. Frontman Trondr delivers songs of hate and sacrilege in graveled, harsh rasps that bear no indication of the falsetto shrieks that have become more and more commonplace in Black Metal today. This alone makes me as happy as such music is capable of. Hearing someone keening like they’re pulling straight down on their nuts with every word does not make me think “Necro”.

Tracks such as “Mirror Satan”, “Mankind Murder” and “Supreme Blasphemy” give testimony to the pure hate that drives the band. The 15 track album also includes four live songs which give brutal examples of the band’s live endeavors to be just as punishing as their recordings, standouts there being “Flames of the Black Candles” and “The Eternal Eclipse” which is an incredibly nasty piece that is worth the purchase price itself.

Through Thick Fog Til Death is bound to be one of those just under the radar albums that will only gain the credit and hails it deserves on the underground level. Somehow I get the impression that this is right where Urgehal wants it. Fantastic album.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 10
Production: 7
Originality: 7
Overall: 9

Rating: 8.4 out of 10