I always find it fascinating when I see a band of any kind going for decades on end with no end in sight. It shows a real dedication and love for the craft that only the most fervent of artists keep going as a massive part of their lives. There’s no shortage of musicians like that in the world of black metal, and Dødsferd is just one of the thousands of names worth pointing out that qualify as such. After almost twenty years of bringing stellar and unique black metal the likes of which you’re hard-pressed to find elsewhere in the sprawling underground with matching qualify being even harder to scavenge, the name of Dødsferd has been synonymous with excellence for some time. It’s this year, though, that instead of a completely new album or even an EP, we’re given something a little different but no less special: a retrospective compilation. Twenty years and several releases of all kinds make for a ton of material, and it’s within the confines of “Death Shall Purify the Wounds of Your Fragile Mortality” that we get a fantastic look into the past of Dødsferd as well as its growth, evolution, and expansion into the glorious act of blackness that it is today.
Should you know even a single song from the extensive catalog that Dødsferd boasts, then you’re in for a real treat with this compilation. Even if you’ve never heard of the band before, “Death Shall Purify” is a fantastic ride that shows us what Dødsferd has been bringing to the table for several years now with each track giving us another insight into what’s gone into the modern result of Dødsferd. Easily, the work makes a great culmination in the brand new track that acts as the finale, “Deterioration”, as it shows us a completely different side to this act. Its dissonant excellence is something that’s performed on a dazzling scale when paired with the next-level scathing sound that Dødsferd pulls off as well as ever on the other six offerings that adorn “Death Shall Purify” in stunning fashion. Even after several listens to this surprisingly eclectic record that shows us a very large variety of everything that Dødsferd can accomplish, you really come out of the work with a newfound sense of respect and admiration given how long this band has been going on for with the quality being consistently nad shocking high no matter what full-length, EP, split, or single we may be talking about.
It’s a terrific display no matter what angle you’re looking at it from, and if there is any single thing that “Death Shall Purify” accomplishes above all else it shows us the true power behind this name as well as showing us just what any newcomers are in for when they dive into the band’s deep and expanding discography of black metal supremacy. This is a body of work that I cannot help but recommend to any and all aficionados of the style who claim to hear the best and the greatest, but if they haven’t heard of Dødsferd then they’re truly missing out on something else entirely.
You can listen to “Death Shall Purify the Wounds of Your Fragile Mortality” on Bandcamp here.
Track Listing:
1. Staring At The Forthcoming Chaos
2. Doomed In Eternal Solitude
3. Suicide And The Rest Of Your Kind Will Follow
4. His Veins Colored The Room
5. Death Has Always Been God of Man
6. Millions Deaths Inside
7. Deterioration
