With this third chapter in the (closing?) book of Bekëth Nexëhmü, mastermind Swartadauþuz again serves us with an overly long record. This time with a playing time of well over 100 minutes, divided over 2 CD’s or 3 vinyl records. The first chapter, the evenly long ‘De Fornas Likgaldrar (Forna Nordiska Besvärjelser Omfamnat I Tre Kapitel)’ from late 2021, was for the most part built out of reworked songs that were previously available on different demos and the second one with ‘only’ 60 minutes of playing time had the man playing rather one-dimensional sort of ‘depressive’ Black Metal. The thoughts I shared on those two records were that it was hardly the quality that I was hoping for that Swartadauþuz would offer before carrying this vessel to its grave.
And, to be downright honest again, on this new chapter, ‘De Dunklas Sorgeakt (Ett Nordiskt Afvsked...)’, things are more or less the same. Again we are presented with re-worked demo tracks for the majority of those 100 minutes. Re-worked in this case means that the heart and soul of those tracks were kept intact, but they have had a cosmetically overhaul. Some ambient passages have been discarded and the sound is slightly enhanced, but for the most part the music is the same. But that also means that if you liked those earlier ‘De Svarta Riterna’, then this latest album is right up your alley too.
But that does also mean you don’t have to mind hearing the same tracks again. Some songs are cut in half, others sees their intros taken away or just simply sound a little better – but the latter also depends on your personal preferences. To be me personally, this rendition has very little added value. Besides that, the running time is just insane and simply too long, it is almost impossible to sit through those 100+ minutes in one session.
Though, I like to end positive. ‘De Svarta Riterna’ is commonly regarded as Bekëth Nexëhmü’s finest hour. And fair enough, demos are essentially meant to try-out songs only to work them into their definite structure and form, and that, frankly, is basically what Swartadauþuz just did. It is up to you to judge whether you’d like to spend money on a (massive) record of music that you, presumedly, already have in your collection.
