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GNOSIS OF THE WITCH
Dauðr Burðr Þrysvar EP

Iron Bonehead (2014)
Rating: 7/10

Four-track mini-album Dauðr Burðr Þrysvar is the second EP the strangely named United States duo Gnosis Of The Witch has released in 2014, following on from Rún Af Inn Auðr.

Vocalist Niðafjöll is quite literally responsible for everything except the percussion, which is handed by Swartadauþaz. The first side of this opus features ‘Ek Bjóða Inn’ and ‘Ormar Eitr’; both are very intriguing episodes indeed, the former being a mere atmospheric rumble of no fixed abode or real instrumentation or vocal as such, but more of a distant soundtrack.

‘Ormar Eitr’ begins as an eerie trickle which is interrupted by a crushing serenade of stark, doom-laden guitar and brooding atmosphere before once again being invaded by a more classic black metal rush of hate. Vocally, it’s the usual throaty, phlegm-coated scratch and sniff horror, but this is laced with some nice melody in the riff and a crushing percussive stance. This is black metal with plenty of meat on its bones, and yet apocalyptic and hateful throughout. Mostly fast and cavernous, the track rages in mocking fashion as if Niðafjöll is some cruel sorcerer of hell conjuring all manner of indescribable demons amidst that panic-stricken flurry of icy guitars and racy percussion.

The next two tracks are ‘Svartr Úlfar Blóð’ and ‘Dauðiþursar Seiðr’, the first of these being a straightforward spiteful avalanche of hyper drums and deviously hellish guitars which run faster than Satan’s own thunder-horse of doom. Again, the vocals are horrendous; Niðafjöll has a remote quality about his warbles, which for the most part act as another instrument to concoct this vile cacophony, but like all good, talented black metal bands, these guys don’t merely rely on that hostility.

When the pace is slowed the band evokes images of peculiar terrain, almost as if we see the world through the eyes of some soaring demon cast from its flaming pit. The drums become a beckoning pod, and the guitar sound is one that enables the listener to latch on. Of course, the duo cannot help but put us through the barbed-wire maze as the track leads into its final frenzy, but again they resort to imagination for the final track – the six or so minute gurgle that is ‘Dauðiþursar Seiðr’ – a truly blackened wail of dementia that exists on varying doomier melodies and those ever-present vocal coughs.

There is certainly something deeply disturbing about this opus; although the hidden power is not something you can put your scorched finger upon, Gnosis Of The Witch somehow have the appeal of a rickety, creepy cabin buried deep within the heart of an ancient woodland. In fact, it’s hard not to fall under the spell of this rather mystical manifestation.

Neil Arnold

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