Review by Felix on October 13, 2022.

Doom and black metal have one thing in common. Their offerings profit from a nice portion of opulence. Doom songs with a duration of less than three minutes are no songs, only fragments, and the same applies for the devilish subgenre. It is no wonder that the best black metal album ever, “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas”, presents seven songs with a length of five minutes plus. Unfortunately, Ondfødt are not aware of this rule and give the audience eleven songs in 35 minutes. Thus, maybe you feel the same as I do when listening to this work: I miss a higher dose of profound depth.

But maybe I am just an old fool to judge a work by its technical parameters. The music itself is of higher relevance, isn’t it? Good news, already the eerie intro sets the stage and both “Den sanna” and “Fri från slaveri” offer a wide range from the spectrum of typical Nordic black metal. Bulky riffing as well as flattening guitars lines, various tempos of the drums, precisely set breaks and throaty vocals. Both songs are based on an almost perfect flow. Therefore they leave no doubt that Ondfødt are talented composers who do not need to fear the legions of Scandinavian competitors. In addition, the mix lends the songs the necessary aura. “Dödsrikets kallelse” sounds aggressive, sinister and violent, although it does not lack professionalism in any way.

The Finnish trio is not looking for innovation. True black hearts love the style they play and are not very interested in experiments. The result is coherent. Almost all tracks reach a solid level at least, even the partly ambient instrumental on position ten does not fall through the net. Okay, the cover song at the end begins like a beerdrinker anthem, but it gets better as it progresses. Additionally, some standard mid-tempo parts have been heard many times before, for example the one at the end of “Födömd i evihejt”, but I don’t want to be too picky. This is still a great song (and more convincing than the following ”Midnatt” with its Viking metal compatible melody line at the beginning. But the pretty harsh instrumental section sounds very vital and makes the entire song much better).

“No ere jo Satan” is the shortest “full” track (2:22) and it is a good one, no doubt about it. But honestly speaking, just as it’s gaining momentum and atmosphere, it’s over. Is this black metal for people with attention deficits who cannot concentrate on whatever for more than two minutes? “Nerdreji I mörkri” is another present for this dubious target group. It holds some great, icy guitar lines, but it collapses before the three-minute mark. As said above, the creative three-piece does not lack talent, but it could make more of its gifts from Satan. On “Dödsrikets kallelse”, the performance is enough for 75%, but a small bitter aftertaste remains.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10