Over the past two or three years the name of Hulder became a much revered band in the Black Metal scene. The one-woman band gained some quick ‘fame’ and went from relatively small labels to Iron Bonehead Productions and recently signed to the 20 Buck Spin label to release her latest epos ‘The Eternal Fanfare’. But Hulder’s underground aesthetics is very much intact, that was again been proven with the self-released ‘Benighted In Blood’ cassette tape.
It was released in two short runs that was only sold through Hulder herself and features a live set, caught on tape during a show in Baltimore, Maryland in the spring of 2022. What strikes most is the splendid recording quality, you can hear it is a live recording, but most of those live tapes are not coming close to the quality of this one. What is also benefiting the overall experience of this tape is that Hulder’s live band is impeccable. Besides herself it exists out of current or ex-members of bands like Funebrarum, VoidCeremony, Undergang, Incantation, Demoncy and Ascended Dead. The majority of the tracks are taken from the 2021 Iron Bonehead Records released ‘Godslastering: Hymns Of A Forlorn Peasantry’ LP, supplemented with ‘Unholy Divine’ from the ‘Embraced by Darkness Mysts’ 7″ EP (Stygian Black Hand, 2018).
Needless to say that those who unfamiliar with Hulder better should start exploring the band’s music through her full-length album, or the two EP’s that were released prior and after the album. Though all recordings have a distinctively different sound, they still are recognizable as Hulder. The bareboned, riff-based Black Metal seems to be perfect for a live environment: the intensity splashes off.
