Brutally telegraphed by the wisely stubborn hand of the third and eldest daughter of Nyx in severing one’s thread of life the moment that death arrives short and unsound should rightfully feel like pursuit to fearful, ignorant prey. To transcend one’s primal sensorial captivity and stand in commune with the “closing in” sensation of pending mortality may very well invert one’s relationship with Death, opening a thousand new doors to the pursuit of knowledge (as opposed to obsessive survival) or even the worship of impending doom as the rightful closure nature’d intend for a species unwilling to recognize the natural order of things. The work of Mjölby, Sweden-based death metal quartet VANHELGD either worships or simply respects this order, accepting fate and fatality on this much anticipated return for a sixth full-length album. Of course they return changed by time wherein ‘Atropos Doctrina‘ brings a new-death sensation alongside a familiar ‘old school’ death-driven impulse, one of grand dysthymic melodicism brought by an ever-wizened set of minds. The most classic sensibilities of their work survive in primal-sourced inspiration here, the old dark clouds still hang, yet there’ll be no tempering the pronounced, tunefully struck dread which arrives in graceful strand throughout this unexpectedly melodious return.

Vanhelgd formed circa 2007 as some members of Ceremonial Execution moved onto their own thing, taking some of that raw sound (a la Verminous) and translating it to something more traditionally Swedish wherein bits of early Autopsy suggested a generally doomed take on the classic Sunlight Studios sound. This’d made for a novel atmospheric undertaking to start and at that point they’d already sounded like old pros at work on two full-length albums which’d perfected that doomed HM-2 grinding (within reason) level of death metal back in a time when I’d personally still had a lot of enthusiasm for that Dismember defined sound as retro-minded ‘old school’ death metal enjoyed a small renaissance throughout the 2000’s. It wasn’t until the year of all years, a decade ago, that I’d been recommended their third album (‘Relics of Sulphur Salvation’, 2014) and eventually placed it at #12 on my 30 Best Albums of 2014 list describing their work on that record as a breakthrough, a fist shot up through the soil, and a vital point where the most ancient death doom met with an epic almost (early) Necrophobic-esque touch of sophistication. It was a newly sentient beast arisen and one I’ve followed closely since then.

Since I’d touched upon most of the band’s discography in brief when reviewing their fifth album (‘Deimos Sanktuarium‘, 2018) the quickest possible recap here would be to suggest it’d been remarkable how well-realized their sound and style had become in the space of about four years as they’d reached an ambitious but still classics-bound occult/atmospheric death metal sound with the aforementioned black and doom metal influences now/then reaching out well beyond the shadows. The breakthrough on that fifth album was a sense of growing variety in their vocal cadence alongside even more infectious use of melodic guitar lines and those traits only intensify here on this much anticipated follow-up; Otherwise while it’d be false to say that -nothing- has changed through the passage of time Vanhelgd still sound like themselves, only we’re treated to an especially dramatic, ranting melodic sensibility as we reach for the apices of Side B (see: “Galgdanstid” b/w “Kerernas törst“). If you are interested in a new stylistic leap made within thier well-proven discography one could begin argue for this album as a deeper press into the unknown from a band that’ve always been assured, all-pro in their delivery of mutated traditions.

Born dead to this world. — Without leading with the scorpion tail-end of the experience I’d offer that the ultimate result this album produces is a melancholic doomed form of death metal developed throughout, a fitting enough sea-change that’ll leave most folks flattened by both mood and riff when all is said and done. To start, I’d take note of the motif conveyed by the Necrophobic-esque lead guitar work (read: a Swedish melodic metal tic feat. sinister progression) that opens the album via “Saliga äro de dödfödda” as this song not only foreshadows the eventual stylistic developments found on ‘Atropos Doctrina‘ but it helps the album circle back around tonally speaking in similar voice and from a nearby place on the guitar. This shorter, somewhat rousing piece builds tension in a way which recalls the earliest malaise of melodic death and matches this morbid, distraught advance with lyrics that continue to call down Death, the horrifying endtime just as they’d prophesied on the previous album. This particular thread continues throughout the next three songs in some sense but most of Vanhelgd‘s best pieces come in pairs and “Kom dödens tysta ängel” acts as proper companion and continuation of the opening piece as we break the ice in terms of the true fixation of this album.

The heaviest, most direct death metal spiral cast by ‘Atropos Doctrina‘ arrives in the second half of Side A per the most traditional set of riffs which kick off “Ofredsår” though it isn’t long before the song is illuminated by its dual rhythm guitar attack once more, almost presenting a melodic black/death metal level of exchange as the song erupts with its dark harmonic resonances (within the first two or so minutes). That is to say that this album probably leans more toward an atmospheric presentation than most all of Vanhelgd‘s past work and well, for the sake of having something profound to present within its layers in every case. I wouldn’t go as far as to begin comparing the melodic voice developing to, say, October Tide just yet but the sullen nature of this particular song and its companion in “I ovigd jord” and the slower, doomed revelation of each puts me in a similar headspace. Likewise I’d suggest that the latter of the two songs might be one of the most accessible the band’ve written to date and should act as a defining moment, or a hingepoint for the album’s presentation as we move toward Side B and its emphasis on this type of darker guitar driven melody and rushes of black metal in extension.

Applying a lightened, atmospheric touch to the heavy hand of Scandinavian melodic metal idyll most often neuters it yet the full treatment (engineering, mix, master) via Devo Andersson (via Endarker Studios) lends ‘Atropos Doctrina‘ its sullen yet kinda all-pro depth. A close spatial relationship between several layers of performance, wherein jogging death metal tension and ranting dual-rhythmic threads fill their downward-flowing pulse with a low mood and a dramatic roar at once, lending a certain majesty to otherwise familiar compositional directives. That is to say that there is a morbid hum to this record that could be taken as sinister or simply dire and it fits the themes of death in action, destined morbidity and a call to the end-times all the more rousing; Of course a very Swedish sounding death record soaked to the bone with bleak melodic statements is also met with a step away from lyrics written in English as the band’d typically split their work between their native language about half the time. This only slightly limits what I can connect with at face value in terms of lyricism/theme though after thirty years spent loosely translating obscure Swedish portmanteau and such allows for some quick recognition of death and darkness hanging on every sentence.

Though I’m not sure we’ve fully crossed the threshold on Side A by the time we hit the second half of the album and reach for the main verse riff of “Atropos Hymnarium” of course I am a bit more prone to view the intent of this record and the evolution of the band’s sound as something closer to melodic blackened death metal, which of course I have nothing but enthusiasm for even if it wasn’t expected. There is an appropriate rush delivered by this opening moment as Side B arrives which matches the profundity of the album opener and generally prepares the ear for a similar delivery on this half. This is more-or-less the result though at this point we are waist deep in what could feasibly be described as at least a melodic death record and striking into the Rotting Christ-esque guitar work of “Galgdanstid” where the wah-touched tones, slow-drawn over arching lead, and pinch harmonic punctuated phrases only intensify this impression made. This brings us full circle in finding ‘Atropos Doctrina‘ both distinctly dramatic and melodic at once as we reach this second apex where the heft and the tuneful qualities of Vanhelgd‘s reach a grand finale; The full listen draws out an arc in two song chapters while presenting strong relation between each piece, resembling the band’s skill for not only arrangement song-to-song but presenting an album experience which feels complete in its ride through.

There is a direct correlation between the quality of the cover artwork by Frisk for each Vanhelgd release and the level of depth, experience gained over time, put into said release. That isn’t to say that the earlier, rawest stuff wasn’t as good, earlier colorful macabre images suited the raw beginnings of the band, and now here after six full-lengths his depiction of the aged bringer of quietus suits the remarkably fine work of ‘Atropos Doctrina‘, retaining the classics-bound and morbid touch of the band and their imagery alike. I’d still say that their third album (and each release beyond) brought them into this level of vital, well curated statement which represents both Swedish death metal at a very high standard for (mostly) classicist yet personalized extreme metal action in general yet curation of this record arrives well above-average once again.

Will this album present too drastic a shift toward tuneful, melodic metal for the long-standing ‘old school’ death metal purist? At this point this type of melodicism is just as ancient in its voice, though things do get a bit anthemic on “I ovigd jord” and “Gravjordsfrid” but we’re not exactly dancing around a nowadays Insomnium album here and all is in service to morbid, aggressive statement. There is yet a lofty glow to this record which might estrange some folks looking for the zombified shamble of their first four records but per my own taste this was just surprising enough to be a thrill and well writ to the point that it was distinct, memorable but never cheaply achieved. Again, ‘Atropos Doctrina‘ presents a viable path forward for Vanhelgd, a point of “progress” which feels like a leap beyond expectations and a listening experience which emanates a level of vitality and inspiration which bodes well for a band that could very well have never changed a thing and still impressed. A very high recommendation.

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