If metal has a master of reinvention, it’s Kristian Eivind Espedal, better known as Gaahl. When we talk reinvention, it’s not to make more money or to grab onto a trend. It’s because as an artist, he evolves, from the barbaric black metal of his earlier years to the more avant-garde creativity more recently, making him one of the more honest figures in metal.
“…By the Word…” is his latest with Trelldom, the former black metal project that has been warped into a different form. Following their 2024 mind-eraser “…By the Shadows…” (our no. 1 record of that year), the band—rounded out by guitarist/electronics force Stian Kårstad, bassist Eirik Øien, drummer Kenneth Kapstad, multi-instrumentalist (saxophones, clarinet, organ & electronics) Kjetil Møster—takes a similar path as last record but with an entirely different adventure awaiting, one that can stab and pound one second, crawl into the vast portions of your psyche the next. It’s an experience you need to take over and over again before everything really settles into your bones,
“When This Was Young” opens whirring, guitars hanging in the balance, gushing as Espedal’s vocals warble, sax fuming as thick exhaust rises. The pace then pummels, streams, Espedal, almost in trance, calling, “Dripping into the open hand,” as a strange aura clashes and fades. “I Speak Forgotten Voices” is a title that feels like a band statement, riffs lighting and sax blaring, Espedal murmuring, “I rest my head,” before noting, “The dreams that dream,” repeatedly. The playing rumbles as the sax spreads, heat gasping, rhythmic blistering shimmering before fading. “This Moment the Life of a Memory” has the drums attacking, the pace bubbling, sax wafting, speak singing pattering on flesh, swirling into madness. The temp is noticeably cool, but that gradually changes as melodies swim through strange waters, haunting sounds echo, and the end burns out of existence.
“By the Word” churns and swarms, the singing warbles, and everything crumbles, guitars spitting nails as the sax glistens. The singing swells as your mind is encapsulated in ice, Espedal clawing, “Take me by the word.” “Folding the Mind” has the drums rounding and dusting, Espedal singing, “I rest my head within these dreams.” Riffs fire as the pace tears apart, the sax scorching as raucous playing dusts, pounding away into oblivion. “The Word – Choose to Vanish” is calm and dusky, crawling before the playing ruptures, the vocals hissing, melodies twisting and hurtling into dark. Howls sneer as a cacophony of racket rattles, spilling chaos as guitars spill, giving off steam as the drums crumble, and moodiness envelopes. Closer “In There Outside” has guitars scuffing, sax peeling metal from planets, the singing sneaking though a bristling attack. The pace tramples, burying layers of dreams, noise chafing, storming into the afterworld.
“…By the Word…” feels like a richer, fuller step from 2024’s “…By the Shadows…” in that the band sounds even more confident, and the picture is developing further. This is a spellbinding listen, one that feels muscular and thought provoking, crawling through your mind as the tentacles embrace you. This obviously exists on a physical plane, but this music takes you somewhere else, mostly in your mind, that lets doors previously locked open wide for your exploration.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.trelldom.no/
To buy the album, go here: https://spkr.store/collections/trelldom
For more on the label, go here: https://en.prophecy.de/
Meat Mead Metal 