Review by Michael on February 23, 2026.

Norwegian Ulvehyrde more or less was formed out of the remnants of Urgehal and with "Dødsdømt" (which means "sentenced to death") they deliver their second full-length album via the renowned German label Solistitium Records (the label which released in the 90s a lot of classics like "Grom" (Behemoth) or "Autumn Roars Thunder" (Darkwoods My Betrothed) and many more. Alone this stands for quality and with the current roster the label is picking up cool bands once more.

But coming back to Ulvehyrde and the remnants of Urgehal (okay, they're still active but I guess they will never release anything new), we can find two members of that legendary band playing here, too. Vocals are performed by Sorath Northgrove and drums are played by Uruz.

Stylistically they are worlds away from what Urgehal played on their records though. On "Dødsdømt" we cannot find too many fast black metal, instead they tend to go more into some mid-paced tempo. The vocals are a mixture of hellish screams and some more invocative chants that give the songs some psychotic and sort of strange feeling. If there are any musical influences to mention that sometimes stick out, it would be Celtic Frost as you can hear in the title track.

The most classic black metal tracks are probably "Morder" and "Rekviem" with some traditional black metal riffs and stomping drums. These two are a little bit faster than the rest on the album and have some more melodic black metal parts so that it is a little bit easier to get into. Also the diabolic laughter at the beginning of "Rekviem" matches absolutely to that dirty atmosphere. By the way, just to tell one of the murder stories here, "Rekviem" is about Sophie Johannesdotter, a poisoner who killed three people and who was the last woman that was executed in Norway. Really nice, isn't it?

The atmosphere in the eight songs is slightly spooky and mysterious and this matches very well to the lyrics. They deal with some murder cases and psychiatric clinics in Norwegian history.  A lot of these stories end with the death of the perps (because of this the album title) and if you read about them, they are truly some sinister topics and perfect for this kind of music.

These stories are not only intensified by Soraths spoken words but also through some female vocals and screams that "invites" you to dive deeper into this world of blood and thunder.

With "Dødsdømt" the band hasn't created an album that is easy to get into but the more I listened to it I started liking it. It doesn't leave you fully satisfied and you might have the feeling that something is missing but this is probably its intention. Just like the why in the murder stories is also often unclear. If you want to listen to some more unconventional black metal with some interesting background stories and not that typical Satan blahblah this one might be interesting for you.

Rating: 8 out of 10