Answering the bray of the tormented beast for a fourth cinematic swell Trondheim, Norway-based black metal quintet MISOTHEIST cross furor with melancholia in passage of this remarkable, yet entirely characteristic fourth full-length album. Marked by atmospheric protest but aggrandized by sharply cut, often densely seated rhythmic ideation ‘De Pinte‘ serves a clear arc of reactivity ’til inner-shot stoicism throughout its four pieces. Fans who’re already familiar with their work will find an album entirely suitable per ‘ready-set high expectations while the uninitiated will find a strongly representative experience which sports the wrathful profundity these fellowes have become infamous for.

Misotheist have persisted as a mysterious force beyond their self-titled debut (‘Misotheist‘) in 2018, largely unnamed and unseen beyond live performances where ~five fellowes typically appear as imposing figures from the Nidrosian black metal underground. Their style is unconditionally black metal though we could point to their work as relevant to both regional inspiration and orthodox black metal’s successive generations. In review of their second LP (‘For the Glory of Your Redeemer‘, 2021) I’d suggested that the progression of their idyll could be viewed as complimentary to tastes and techniques one’d find in revelatory groups such as Sinmara and Funeral Mist before placing that album at #2 on my Top 75 Albums of 2021. I still find that to be their strongest, or, most detailed and impactful release though ‘Vessels by Which the Devil is Made Flesh‘ (2024) was no less brilliant. This new album manages similar format and equally awe-striking impact without succumbing to the typically overworked state we find in a typical fourth full-length effort.

If there is any one profound trait or characteristic vice to be found within Misotheist‘s compositions it lies within their treatment of space, not so much dead air or lingering sustain but rather the voluminous and unhurried development of each song as if conjured from smoking skull. Though their initial work was largely divvied up into three-or-so longform pieces (often ten plus minutes in length or more) over time they’ve resorted to songs which are more typical for this arena of atmospheric, highly dynamic black metal. Thus we find the first three pieces averaging around ~six minutes each in span for ‘De Pinte‘, further compacting their reach without losing the sense of diabolic grandeur they’ve become known for. While this doesn’t make it a “riff album” in squarely classicist terms there are certainly wells of rhythmic intensity which are revealed within each song that outpace some of the more gestural dramatism found on ‘Vessels by Which the Devil is Made Flesh‘.

Opener “Unanswered Thrice” begins with a stroke of cinematic tension, a rusted wheel turning amidst a lurking score before vocalist B.K. (Enevelde, Diabolus, Mecum Semperterne!) roars in, coughing fire as the tumult of the song begins to strike its hammered pace. That declarative, ranting voice is scathing to say the least as the gravel of his words strikes the ear as if witnessing ascetic purge from the throat. For my own taste these are the start of what are perhaps the loudest and best placed efforts from the vocalist in this band which contrast well with the wavering flow of Misotheist‘s rhythms. The drums lend a cavernous live-in-studio feel which trail up the walls during fills and yank the mind into torpor when blasting and crashing away. The performances found in this song are athletic, sure, but the tone serves an atmosphere of unreal furor called upward from below making for an inspired entrance.

Key piece “Blinded and Revealed” is where we find the aforementioned complexity of rhythmic command and density of ideas morphs the distant voice of Misotheist into something more immediately burning. It is a trampling, stamped-out verve as to be expected but here we feel every hit of the snare and hear the bass guitar rumbling as of an enormous engine whirring in ear. The greater flexion of the song is serpentine and most of the action hits at ground level where we find bigger grooves (see: @ ~3:24 minutes in) to break up the rockslide that is the song’s pace. I find this style of drumming and the production sound they’ve managed one of the core brilliancies of ‘De Pinte‘ as it lends so much distinction to their work even when the atmospheric dramatism begins to fold into view. The first time I’d hit the ~5:40 minute mark on this song, simple as the moment is, I’d been struck by no only the momentum that’d fed into that peaking moment but the way they’d built it out with a forlorn bassline and increasing intensity ’til the end. I don’t know if the song “makes” the album on its own but this was the first kick in the neck that’d pulled me in.

The purgatorial lurch through “Kjetterdom” and the slow rattle-and-burn of ~21 minute opus/title track “De Pinte” manage to dominate the melancholic yet chaotic tone of ‘De Pinte‘. The title track in particular is its own beast of momentum, another signature bout of jogging-paced rhythmic squalls and dictator worthy shouts creating a sense of tunneling dissention within what is essentially atmospheric black metal in transit, albeit atypical. As was the case with each of the band’s records the efficacy of their closing piece ends up being half of the full listen and as such you’ll have to be on board for this piece for the full spin to work. I was not sure they’d pulled off anything as profound as we’d found on the two previous LPs but here the more intensely stirred, call-and-response set malaise of the second half helps to bring the piece into focus.

While I’d found the heat of the first two pieces sold ‘De Pinte‘ as higher-class work suitable for Misotheist‘s already brilliant legacy the two final songs hit as if they were spawned in watery despair rather than the fiery breath that’d birthed the album’s first impression. The greater effect is restless in its sojourn where impassioned explosivity arrives upon tact before all comes to writhe within extended circuitous emotional lows. This dynamic is no less entertaining than the band’s two prior releases for the sake of upholding the expansive gestural command which defines their work, the main reasons it might overtake prior efforts in mind comes via stylized production values and how much this transforms their impact. A very high recommendation.

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