Den Sorte Død "Hemmeligheden Bag Den Sorte Slanges Konstellation" (2025)

 

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

Den Sorte Død "Depressiv Magi" (2022)

 

 Depressiv Magi, a fitting name for these steady solemn strolls through the pale. Its six chapters fragment all differing increments of funeral gloom and lonely wonders. Its bleak exterior, a dominating aesthetic, casts a forlorn prison to the minuscule glow within. Its stoic charm and glimpses of effervescence, caged, dragged and smothered by a nostalgic doom. Although the duo wrestle on occasion, its darkness that wins out.

Comprised of Dungeon Synth and Berlin School electronics, a textural affair is to be enjoyed. Foggy, fidelity diminishing Low Fi ideals rub against the precision of angular buzz, sine and saw wave oscillations. The two find a unison in unraveling songs where their composition and chemistry is apt. Although its often humanistic Dungeon Synth tones that represent escape from the glumness, they interweave rolls, creating quite the spectacle of impressive musicianship and craft.

Den Evindelige Skygge opens the record with a lurching sense of unease before its title track rebirths the tonal theme to reveal dire tensions. From here much of the relief is abandoned as these chilly, joyless atmospheres turn grave, often punctuated by driving percussive strikes that call out from the dark. Depressiv Magi is a well executed project but limited in scope it suits a particular mood.

Rating: 5/10

Den Sorte Død "Den Sorte Død" (2021)

All to keen to explore this newly discovered Berlin School niche, I snapped up this side project by Offermose. Now, I feel a little burned by an impulse decision. What I initially heard at a glance alludes me through this dreary bleak experience that Den Sorte Død is. Translated to The Black Death, its inspiration makes sense of its glumly harrowing tone that hopelessly drifts through a sombre graveness. Track after track drones with an empty loneliness devoid of hope and wallowing in defeat.

This context has given me a greater respect for the record but before learning of this, I was somewhat dulled by it, having anticipated a more adventurous set of songs. Instead its a grueling journey of pale sorrow, a defeated human spirit trapped in perpetual misery, drifting from place to place with no uplift insight. The occasional swells of dark and menacing music gives a sense of seeing the horrors, carcasses piled high and the burning of bodies, a particularly grim endurance for any soul.

 Without the context, these aesthetics gave me strong cosmic vibes. Atmospheric synthetic strings and meandering saw wave melodies painted the astral skies at night. Thus initially it reminded me more so of Grimrik. There is also a ghostly wobbling synth instrument suggestive of cheesy old school horror soundtracks. Because of this it all felt a bit empty, set in the vacuum of space with an eternally drifting nature. I've come to enjoy it more now, the ending of Det Tabte Slag being a memorable note as it descends into gristly and unsettled territory but otherwise I could of passed this one by.

Rating: 4/10