I think everyone into Black Metal has already heard about US cult band VON which released the well-known ‘Satanic Blood’ demo in 1992. Over the years many bands already covered tunes from this San Fransisco based band. And just recently another release is unleashed upon mankind featuring four bands paying tribute to VON. This 4-way split, which is entitled ‘A Norwegian Hail to VON’, comes in an excellent looking gatefold double 7″ EP as a limited edition of 1000 copies on blood red vinyl featuring Norwegian Evil, Amok, Taake and Urgehal.
The first band to kick of is Norwegian Evil. I guess most of you haven’t heard about them yet though when I say Infernus (Gorgoroth) and Tormentor (ex-Gorgoroth) are Norwegian Evil then probably a bell will ring. Norwegian Evil’s cover is ‘Satanic blood’. This version sounds quite industrial-alike with a raw, harsh sound and Norwegian Evil manages to give an own twist to this classic. Still for me this is the least interesting version on this tribute EP.
Next up is Amok with in the line-up Lava (ex-Aeternus), Necrocum (Mysticum), Iscariah (ex-Immortal) and Høst (Taake). Amok’s version of ‘VON’ sounds extremely good and for me this version is the highlight on ‘A Norwegian Hail to VON’. In fact it comes quite close to the original version and for me, when being completely honest, Amok’s version is even better than the original! Just listen to the middle part where the tension is build up into one big vulcanic eruption of pure black lava. Great!!!
The second 7″ starts with Taake doing a version of ‘Lamb’. For this version Høst was responsable for all vocals and instruments himself. As the regular readers probably know Taake is my all time favourite band so I was therefore very curious towards Høst’s version of this classic track. Luckilly he managed to do a good version with a suiting raw sound and of course including Høst’s typical energetic vocals. Well done!
Finally it is Urgehal ending this release with a version of the instrumental ‘Veadtuck’. And just like Amok and Taake Urgehal managed to come up with a great version of this song. It sounds both epic and eerie sinister at the same time. The sound is rather clear and in fact an excellent way to end this highly interesting double EP.
As far as I know this double 7″ EP is rather difficult to find yet still it’s worth to go out and have a look to find it. Four good cover versions of this classic cult band with Amok being the highlight on this release. Also the packaging looks extremely good. This double 7″ EP comes, as said, on blood red vinyl in a limited edition of just 1000 copies in a very good looking gatefold packaging featuring many well know VON drawings including lyrics. ‘A Norwegian Hail to VON’ is in fact not just a must for fans into VON and the four featured bands but also to anyone into extreme underground Black Metal. Get this great release while you still can or regret ever after!
