Review by SzejkElRopa on May 14, 2026.

What you are looking at on your right-hand side is an artwork. You may like it, you may dislike it, but there is one thing that you probably don't know and wouldn’t guess. As Simon claims, "I just found a picture and font text on Google and made something out of that." Funny, right? Later, he adds that he hopes he doesn't get into a copyright dispute. I don't think he will, because the personal info of the artist was written on Tårfödd's Bandcamp page. You may think the artwork was cheaply done, but what about the music? Actually, it is an excellent piece of black metal.

At the time of writing this review, my review of the previous Tårfödd album, "Mörker", was accepted just yesterday, so I have a clear view of what the differences between these two records are. Firstly, the whole album is darker-sounding and noticeably slower. It can be seen from the start — for instance, in "Higher Than Life Itself", blast beats are present, but are not as chaotic as in the previous album. I will elaborate more on the drumming further. When it comes to the general atmosphere, it can be described as nihilistic and full of darkness and hate. The best example of it is the title track, when Simon can be heard screaming, "The end is near!" One similar element to both albums is the presence of melodic preludes — for example, in "The Futile" or "Darkness Covers the Light". This idea can be described as Tårfödd's signature. On the whole, this is most likely the darkest and the slowest (yet still fast) album known to me in Tårfödd's discography.

While listening to "Disciples of the Ghost", I was surprised a few times. For example, in the middle section of "Avskrade", a heavy, thrashy/death metal-ish riff appeared. This was a very pleasant surprise because the album started to become slightly monotonous. The same goes for "Elden" — in that case, I can truthfully say that this song was the most progressive one on this album and, in general, from what I have heard from Tårfödd. Apart from the mentioned heavy riff, it surprised me because of the clean double vocals. I finally got the idea why Tårfödd is labeled here as progressive black metal. And lastly, in the last minute of the album, a guitar solo in "Beginning of the End" can be heard. The solo wasn't anything extraordinary by itself, but this was the last thing I would expect from this project. I had my jaw dropped, to be honest.

I cannot say much about Simon's screams. They remained as good as they were. The same goes for Johanna's clean vocals — apart from the mentioned double clean vocals, they weren't anything extraordinary for a person who has already listened to some of Tårfödd's material. I think her best performance was in "Darkness Covers the Light", when she repeated words screamed by Simon. Guitar riffs were more sophisticated compared to the previous album; apart from the heavier riffing mentioned before in two songs, there was also clearly heard tremolo riffing in the title track. In comparison, the previous album lacked some good tremolo riffs. There are also some melodic preludes and interludes that contributed to the atmosphere. However, most of the riffing wasn't anything groundbreaking or new — it was just solid.

When it comes to drumming — an aspect I bashed in the previous album's review — it has dramatically changed. When there were blast beats, every other instrument (apart from the bass guitar) could be heard without problems. There were some exceptions to that rule, like in certain moments in "Darkness Covers the Light" and "Beginning of the End", but this wasn't the case throughout the majority of the album. In general, the drumming was slowed down, with great effect, making the album more coherent.

All things considered, "Disciples of the Ghost" may appear inconspicuous at first glance, but it is absolutely worth listening to for anyone interested in getting to know Tårfödd — and for anybody interested in atmospheric and/or progressive black metal. For me, it is the best Simon Lindgren release I have listened to.

Rating: 8.9 out of 10