REVIEW: Trelldom - “…By the Shadows…” (2024)
Trelldom - “…By the Shadows…” (2024) - Prophecy Productions || Review by Shiiver
About 2 months ago a single for the new Trelldom album called “...by the Shadows...” was released to the public. Upon first listening to the single, titled “Between the World”, I was very intrigued, yet apprehensive, as it marked a huge stylistic evolution for the band. Just as interesting as the song was the public reaction I observed online. People from all corners of metal seemed to be in a disoriented state of disappointment and shock. This was very confusing to me, as the band's frontman and only original member, Gaahl, has never been one for creative stagnation. While the early days of Trelldom were magic in their own right, the music they produced wasn't exactly original in style, borrowing heavily from bands like Gorgoroth and Darkthrone. Once Gaahl joined Gorgoroth and ventured further out into the world it seems that his musical horizons broadened. Not only did he create multiple milestone albums with Gorgoroth, but he also helped start the now-world-renowned musical act - Wardruna.
With all of these thoughts swirling in my head, I was left with one question: What were people expecting? It has been 17 years since the last Trelldom album and it's been 5 years since any of Gaahl’s musical output has included his old “black metal” style vocals. Anyone who has read interviews with Gaahl should also know that he doesn't seem to have any fondness for nostalgia. All of these things added together lead me to believe you would have to be either very confused or utterly misinformed if you expected this new Trelldom album to be a rehashing of their former monochromatic black metal style.
The good news is that we received something even better than that. At the heart of “...by the Shadows...” is guitarist Stian Kårstad, who had previously played bass on the band's 2nd and 3rd albums. While I have not spoken with him about this album yet, I am left with the feeling that these compositions have been tediously carved, as if from granite, for a very long time. The amount of ideas in each song, no matter how subtle, is astounding. Stylistically I would say that it's disingenuous to characterize this record (as I've seen some reviewers do) as being something outside of metal. This is very much still a metal album. There are tremolo-picked guitar parts and blast beats that you would never hear in any other genre. The most interesting musical implementation, apart from the guitar arrangements, is the incredible saxophone playing throughout the album. On the 3-minute instrumental track “Return the Distance”, Kjetil Møster’s saxophone performance is otherworldly, almost like distilled agony.
Overall the album comes off as very solitary and somber, while still retaining an extraordinary amount of emotion. Gaahl's vocals often take a back seat compared to the atmospheres strung together by Kårstad, but I believe this works in favor of the record as a whole. His fingerprint is still evident from the first track to the last. This album is best heard that way as well - in full.
After taking in the record a few times I am left to wonder how someone who enjoys the darker sides of extreme music could not find merit in this album. It seems completely counterintuitive to me personally. This is Trelldom today, not of 1995 or even 2007. I have to commend the band for musing something so honest in its raw emotion and releasing it to thousands of adversarial “fans” who expected something completely different. To reiterate, if you claim to enjoy dark and provocative music, but have decided that “...by the Shadows...” is not that simply because it's not staunch black metal, you are either disingenuous in character or ignorant in mind. This is simply one of the best albums I have heard in 2024. I hope Trelldom will continue down this path of honest creation, for the fruit it bears is bountiful.
Power: 18 / 20
Creativity: 18 / 20
Songwriting: 19 / 20
Execution: 20 / 20
Production: 18 / 20
Rating: 9.3 / 10
Buy Trelldom CD/LP/Shirt here: https://en.prophecy.de/en/Artists/Trelldom/
