Info
- Band(s): White Death
- Label(s): Werewolf Records
- Release Format(s): CD
- Release Year: 2023
- Review Date: March 1, 2024
- Author(s): VincentP
When White Death released their eponymous debut album in 2017, the collective consisting of renowned musicians from the Finnish Black Metal scene had already shown to take their time to hone their craft, releasing four years after the band inception in 2013. Once again showing their care for detail (and perhaps influenced by vocalist Vritrahn’s relocation to Uruguay), it would take until late 2023 for a successor to appear, released once again by their partners in crime Werewolf Records.
As on their debut, ‘Iconoclasm’ is an album that is undeniably Finnish in sound. Not only due to the harsh guitar tone, unrelenting drums pace and piercing shrieks, but also as the framework laid by in particular Satanic Warmaster and to lesser extent Sargeist and Goatmoon is evident throughout the record. With sometimes more subcutaneous, other time more overt sense of melodicism, there is no other way to describe the music of White Death as catchy, for as far as harsh and fierce Black Metal goes. Apart from aforementioned bands, there most definitely is a tone of Warloghe and bands from the Les Légions Noires scene. While one can argue that tracks like ‘Life in Death’ or ‘To Die a Thousand Times’ have an inkling of the Swedish sound of the late 90’s and early 00’s Marduk and Dark Funeral to them, make no mistake that the sound of White Death is firmly rooted in the raw Finnish Black Metal school.
The band offers an enhanced sense of dynamics compared to the previous album, opting for tempo changes and breaks, but the framework of the songs is mostly aimed and one key aspect: the ability to write highly noteworthy and melodious riffs. The album is chock full of them. Tracks like ‘Born from the Unholy Fire (Part II)’ with its earworm melody, the catchy vocal lines and grunts vs shrieks battle of ‘Strife for Blood’ or the contrast of blistering drums and eerie keyboards in ‘Celestial’ are bound to dig a way into your brain and remain there for a considerable time. While catchy may have a negative connotation to some, I believe it is strictly a positive thing here. What is music if you don’t remember is and keeps you going back to hear that one striking melody over and over again? ‘Iconoclasm’ is undoubtedly a victory ride when it comes to this aspect. Now personally I probably would have liked the album to be about 5-10 minutes shorter, but hey, who am I to judge the artistic intentions of the band? And admittedly, the Punky Misfits meets Black Metal ‘Deathstruction’ that appears as a bonus track on the CD is a song that is worth the extra minutes.
White Death offers a record filled to the brim with the uptempo, snarling yet highly melodious Finnish Black Metal. It may not be something you haven’t heard before, but since the riffs have remained nestled in my skull for days on end, I can only conclude that ‘Iconoclast’ is one heck of an album.
