TULUS
Fandens Kall
(Soulseller Records)
32:16min

I’ll be honest. Norway’s TULUS, since 1996 have released a plethora of albums which are sometimes less than satisfying, while others are damn good. So I was a little cautious about their new album “Fandens Kall”. Having three of four KHOLD members (a good band in their own right), TULUS have apparently given their all on this new one. They’ve seemed to pour forth the very soul of Black Metal into these ten tracks. Titled same as the album, the first track begins with a blast to let the listener know just where they stand. The guitars have a little 1349 fierceness to them as the vocals of Blodstrup growl and rasp.’Lek’ continues the fury while ‘Slagmark’ changes its beat and rhythm like the fucking wind on a stormy day. It’s a little slowed down until ‘Allstott’ erupts with more aggressiveness. The power in each track indicates the band isn’t playing around. There’s more of a consistency in this album than others. Just when you think they’re gonna twist things around, they throw out ‘Israk’ which squirms and creeps its way into our eardrums like a leech heading to suck the blood out of our spirit. ‘Samuelsbrenna’ is a plodding, yet strong song leading into ‘Sjelesmerte’, a more rocking track in the traditional sense, which is a nice break before ‘Bloddrapesvermer’, sounding like a trickster plotting its villainy in its riffs. ‘Snomyrkre’ is a solid, fist punching track that allows ‘Barfrost’ to gently lay the album to rest. After multiple listens, TULUS have presented us with proof they still have their Black Metal dominance that destroys much of what I’d listened to this year so far. If you ever had any doubts about this band, “Fandens Kall” will nail it down for you with a firm “Hell fucking yes!” to its glory. For more info, check out www.facebook.com/tulusband, www.facebook.com/soulsellerrecords

David Simonton

David Simonton

Related reviews / interviews:
TULUS - Old Old Death (Randolph Whateley)

Leave a Reply