Named after the black death plague that riddled the middle ages, Den Sorte Død unsurprisingly burrow into a solemn funeral gloom with this morose offering. It strikes me as a series of epitaphs, strung together across six lengthy numbers with a latent sense of reoccurring theme. Musical tones linger with grace on the sorrows of man faced with perilous suffering, a reflection of darkness felt through glum melody and decedent tempo, as opposed to a stylistic plunge into aesthetic depravity.
Thus a curious soothing magic emerges, as yawning church organs brood and deep bass murmurs in its lethargy. A calming sense of ease overcomes when in the background. At the foreground of ones attention, the weighty burden of mortal death is ever present. Woven together with subtle intent, Berlin School synths whirl and pine in soft majesty.Touches of ghoulish horror show tropes shine through on occasion too.
No individual track stands out. As the record cycles through its various instrumental compositions, one gets a sense of recycling chemistries, as if revisiting a sombre motif explored earlier. This all plays into its construct, a morbid dwelling on mournful woes. That's at least as I experienced it. A translation of "Hemmeligheden Bag Den Sorte Slanges Konstellation" speaks to something astral and cosmic, which I did not get the mildest sense of, however its synths could be conductive to such a suggestion.
Rating: 6/10