TRELLDOM - …By The Word…

For years, the name Trelldom has been associated with the most visionary Norwegian black metal, especially thanks to the first two unmatched pieces of the discography (“Til evighet…” and “Til et annet”, released respectively in 1995 and 1999). The fifth album by Kristian Eivind Espedal's project (better known as Gaahl) instead represents the second chapter of a new era that began with the recent “…By The Shadows…”. Here the music turns its gaze toward another form of extremism: not one tied to speed or violence, but one built on ambiguity and freewheeling experimentation.

Where once there were tremolo picking and icy screams, we now find dissonant atmospheres, a wounded sax that writhes, and a voice that murmurs, whispers and retreats. The easiest mistake would be to keep reading it through the filter of black metal. Sure, black veins still pulse beneath the skin, but the body has changed. The record brings together experimental rock, twisted jazz, post-punk, psychedelia and a ritual tension that seems to come from a nightmare. That's what happens in the hypnotic “I Speak Forgotten Voices”, where the guitars don't build riffs but carve fissures, while Kjetil Møster's sax adds not color but instability, like a crack that keeps widening beneath the listener's feet. And instability is precisely the true center of the album.
Every track seems to promise an explosion that never comes. Kenneth Kapstad's drums build up energy with impressive precision, but instead of releasing it, they compress it further. The dissonances don't seek catharsis. They remain suspended, forcing the listener to inhabit an unresolved tension. Gaahl's voice, once an instrument of devastation, doesn't dominate the scene: it haunts it. His performance is a weary whisper, a peripheral presence that prefers to creep in rather than impose itself.

The choice to keep the tension constantly at controlled levels ends up, at times, limiting the emotional impact. Some crescendos seem to hold back a step before the abyss, as if the band deliberately chose contemplation over collapse. Still, immersing yourself in these notes remains a profound and never predictable experience, at times not too far from the extreme trip offered by certain Oranssi Pazuzu (as in the case of the title track).
More than a punch in the gut, “…By The Word…” is thus an uneasy backdrop to be listened to in a dark room. Because Trelldom let the void do the talking. This comeback won't redraw the boundaries of avant-garde metal, but it's a record capable of reminding us what it means to suspend unease between two notes.

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05/08/2026