Doodsdrek was formed back in 2009 by Zwein and Bartidus of Lugubrum in 2009 and released their debut full length only a year later before going dormant for a little over a decade. This year they’ve re-emerged with Put binnen!, which offers up raw black metal that takes a lot of influence from Darkthrone and other second wave artists while adopting a quirkier feel. If you know anything about Lugubrum you’re likely expecting all-out insanity as that band has gone off in truly eccentric and avant-garde directions, but Doodsdrek remains a bit more rooted in the dark and raw sound of the past while still putting their own stamp on the genre.
Despite the eleven-year gap, Put binnen! feels like it picks up naturally from where the self-titled left off but also adopts some eccentric elements that helps Doodsdrek to come through as much more than your average second wave tribute. “Doodgraver” greets you with lo-fi melodies that wouldn’t sound out of place in a C-grade horror movie or 8-bit game soundtrack and set off a weird and spooky atmosphere early on, giving way to the tremolo picking and blasting drums that you’d expect from a traditional black metal album. The recording is still fairly raw, and each instrument has quite a bit of bite to it, but there’s a bit more clarity making it easier to pick out the individual riffs. You’ll notice fairly quickly that while the move between slower, methodical tempos and blasting does still recall Darkthrone’s unholy trinity, there’s often something that feels a little off balance to both the guitar and drums. “Den put in!” is a perfect example, as there’s a stop and start between the instrumentals at the beginning that leads to a bit of a dark and eccentric sounding groove while the bass plods forward underneath. There’s a fluidity to the performance that makes the material dark and ominous sounding but as experienced through a drunken stupor, not unlike some of Urfaust’s earlier material. Doodsdrek consistently manages to shake up the formula from one song to the next, avoiding the repetition that so many black metal bands fall into while still sounding familiar. At times there’s even a little heavy metal and black/thrash seeping into the mix, but they come through as quick flourishes before the duo transitions into something else. Closing instrumental “Knoockengruys” is worth mentioning too, as it’s led by an unsettling scraping sound and tense riffing that brings to mind imagery of being dragged through a graveyard.
There may be some eccentric elements to the instrumentation, but it’s the vocals that really set Put binnen! apart. They’re drenched in echo and are so raspy and abrasive that some listeners are likely to be turned off, but it’s this ugliness and unhinged approach that I find suits the essence of black metal so well. It genuinely sounds like this deranged screaming and yelling is coming from within a mausoleum or some other dark and murky corner of the Earth, and that’s sure to leave an impression. Bartidus was featured as a guest on Duivel’s debut last year on one song and gave a similarly demonic sounding performance, so it’s great to hear even more of this for an entire album’s worth of material.
I wouldn’t categorize this album as experimental or avant-garde, as the foundation is still pulling from a significant amount of early Darkthrone and other classic bands from Norway’s second wave of black metal. But the rhythms and riffs sometimes feel just a bit more eccentric or off-balance, designed to trip you up just when you thought you’ve figured out the pattern of blasting and slower, methodical riffing. Those little details go a long way in making Doodsdrek stand out from one song to the next and capture that dark, deranged feeling of black metal without writing the same riff over and over again. This duo seems to have reappeared out of nowhere, but hopefully we’re not left waiting another decade for more as this latest album is a big step up from their debut and one of the more interesting black metal releases of this type in recent memory. Put binnen! is available from Those Opposed Records with a tape release coming in the near future from Haunted by Ill Angels.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg
If you enjoyed this article, be sure to share it with others to help us grow. You can also like and follow us on the social media of your choice with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and support us on Patreon.