From Tampere, Finland hails the duo of Vrëdehexen who in April of this year, the band released their debut demo, ‘Omen of Evil’. And even though it clocks in at under 12 minutes, it takes far less to know we are dealing with a band that is serious about their Black Metal.
The sound of ‘Omen of Evil’ is raw, icey and sharp. The slight reverb on the militant drums, the snarling wall of guitars with just slight room for a buried melodic layer here and there, and the rasping possessed shrieks give an impenetrable and chilling appearance. Musically it combines the riffs of early Gorgoroth, Dødheimsgard and Emperor alongside a clear infusion of Darkthrone. With a pace that is mostly ferocious and unrelenting, only every so often the nuances in the riffs reach the surface. Apart from this militant tempo and ice-cold aura, it also harbors a sense of unleashed chaos in the shape of whammy solos that appear once in a while. But atmosphere also comes from haunting keyboards, for instance combined with incantations in an ambient end of ‘Ghastly Prophecies’ or as a more integral decorative element in final minutes of ‘The Curse Unsealed’.
Original? Not really. Done splendidly? Hell yes! It’s the remorseless drums, the snarling vocals, the raw riffs and icey eerie atmosphere that immediately grab you by the throat. So even though it only took a short while to be convinced by the demo, I certainly would like to hear more material by Vrëdehexen. Add this to the pile of excellent demos from 2025!
