Triumphal in its ranting shore-to-shore stride this third full-length album from Utrecht, Netherlands-borne black metal duo WRANG notably embraces a smarter fusion of their ebullient devotion to the sub-genre, one which embraces cohesion rather than juxtaposition beyond past efforts. Retaining the feel of auld yet evolved classic black metal trait while persisting with stronger melodic directive means ‘Verwording‘ provides a strong balance between intricate, occasionally evocative statement and the whirring of diabolically stabbing hands. Though their work reads as overly familiar or typical in a few cases the whole of this experience holds fast with consistently rousing tonal ebb and a few strikingly stated melodic black movements.

Wrang were brought to life back in 2013 via drummer Valr (Deathless Void, ex-Grafjammer) alongside guitarist, bassist and vocalist Galgenvot (Sarastus) who’d presented a well-conceived yet myriad ideal on their first demo (‘Demo 2015‘, 2015) a couple of years later. That ideal included introspective melodic black metal, frantic thrashing pieces, and affected atmospheric works intent on prolonged eerie advance all of which seemed to feed the larger nodes of their debut LP (‘Domstad Swart Metal‘, 2019) several years later. Galgenvot’s vocals developed far more personality in the interim and were a key feature for that debut whether they were gang-shouting in militant attack or presenting a thrashing yet soldiering force seemingly inspired (beyond the obviate) by Bathory or earlier Carpathian Forest for that matter.

Seeming disparate ideas turned to increasingly eclectic (in the context of black metal) sounds as Wrang spent their time ramping up their songcraft, polishing performance and presentation for a second LP (‘De Vaendrig‘, 2022). At the time I’d praised their work for: “how eclectic it manages to be between raw yet thoughtfully melodic pieces, brutally socked-out heaviness, and sort of Taake-esque blackened rollers” likening their implied points inspiration to that of Horna‘s where fandom of the craft was clear and not simply fundamentalist. The general appeal of their work hasn’t outright transformed on this third album so much as cohered into sleeker ouevre.

Rather than continue to sprawl and dilate focus towards quasi-progressivism Wrang‘s path now contracts unto tightened chivalric melodic assail to start as ‘Verwording‘ embodies what I’d view as a restless colonizer mindset, sights upon horizon-set conquest which continues to change the goalpost as identity is refined through experience. That is to say that there are fewer manic fits of dread pinned into the corners of their work and instead a consistent showing of stoic, brimming melodic hardiness seems to be the main focal point. This dynamic appears to align with Finnish black metal melodicism from my point of view but retains their more accessible, sometimes rocking Norwegian influences otherwise.

Side A wields this loudest within one of Wrang‘s more cohesive threads to date starting with the inspired ride through opener “Stilstand”. The duo’s rally through this song isn’t outright original in its core statement but brings vitally energizing and intricate hand to the experience and despite resembling typical Finnish styled fare to start. The trills deployed within verse riffs beyond ~3:29 mins alongside the rocking shift beyond ~3:52 minutes in yet feel like a direct link to the Hoest-esque touch of Galgenvot‘s work on the band’s previous album. Otherwise the most familiar call to their many-armed signature comes via “Entartete Kunst” where thrashing riffs, folken jigging, and scaling lead-driven movement atop rock beats collude to induce a sort of mid-era Vried-like quality which is dramatic but not fully self-serious.

The second half of ‘Verwording’ is no less engaging but suffers a bit for its overly long, unfocused closing piece. Standout “Voor Ons de Zee” crosses an ‘old school’ black metal groove with far less sinister strokes of atmospheric and melodic grandstand, marking it as one of the better conceived threads on the full listen. Otherwise the higher speed thrust into “De Duivel is de Ander” is potentially even more energetic than the opener and similarly acts as a strong showcase for the bass guitar representation on this album which assists the main guitar line by nature but reads loud and clear enough to allow some additional shape to the thread. I’m not sure the 9+ minute closer (“Bitjebauw”) is as impactful or coherent as it’d intended as a grand finale but I’d appreciated that each of the six songs included in the full listen were markedly different from one another.

‘Verwording‘ expresses enough vibrant character throughout its ~39 minute run to entertain general black metal audiences via conviction and melodious uprise. No doubt this is Wrang‘s best-yet effort if only for the sake of better communicating their moderately complex sonic personality and path in a strident and I’d say not-so edgy manner. Though I’m not sure the signature of the band is any easier to pinpoint within this work it is yet a tunefully bounding work which rallies through each piece with an above-average sense of wrathful narrative underpinning its otherwise guitar driven pulse. A moderately high recommendation.

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