It is difficult to discuss this album without first discussing Kristian Eivind Espedal. Depending on who you ask, his more well-known name Gaahl is spoken with either reverence or revulsion. The Norwegian vocalist has a past riddled with controversy. There are people who still fear him (or laugh at him) for his iconic anti-Christian rhetoric during the 2000’s. Others hate him for his dispute with fellow bandmember Infernus from Gorgoroth, resulting in a court case. The documentary True Norwegian Black Metal (truly one of the worst documentaries of all time) gave him a reputation as a mysterious and dark figure, who should be feared. There was a kernel of truth in that, since he has been sentenced multiple times for assault. At the same time, the man held strong opinions on fashion, wine, and painting. He is openly homosexual, which some people in the black metal scene found controversial, for some reason. Some call him a poser, or not fitting in the scene, but the man kept making music.
The stories around the mysterious frontman often overshadow the man himself and his music, though that has changed somewhat in the past years. Espedal has gone from ‘the most dangerous many in Norway’ to an understated and idiosyncratic musician scornful of any form of categorization. These days, the singer seems a lot more content and open, which can be heard in his music. While he became known with Gorgoroth as a man who could screech like a tortured cat (just listen to the scorching Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam), his next band God Seed showed a different side to him with a far broader vocal range. At the same time, he proved what an amazing folk musician he was with Wardruna. Gaahls Wyrd continued his evolution when the iconic screams appeared to have been exchanged for vocal range that could not be pinned down. Jumping between spoken words, raspy cries, outbursts of falsetto, and a beautiful singing voice, Espedal challenged the limits of black metal vocals. When Trelldom, Espedal’s first band, released …by the Shadows… in 2024, the gloves were off. The urge to experiment on that album was completely different from anything that both that band and Espedal had done before. Dissonant black metal went to war with jazz, with convulsions of prog and the avant-garde. The result was confusing, uninhibited, and divisive. The name Gaahl was dropped as well, as if Espedal wanted to undo himself of expectations. Now …by the Word… has come out after less than two years since then.
I can already tell you that if you felt that …by the Shadows… went too far, that …by the Word… probably will not convince you otherwise. This album floors the gas pedal even harder than that record did and then proceeds to cut the brakes for good measure. When This Was Young shrouds us in a cloud of cymbals and dissonant guitar noises from all sides. It is almost a jumpscare when the band suddenly breaks through that. We hear what sounds like a sitar, resounding brass, and Espedal’s spoken word. The core of bass, drums, and guitar keeps playing as if totally oblivious to the cacophony of acoustic guitar, brass, and electronics which tries to attack it.
That chaos succeeds because the production and especially the mix on the album are excellent. The drums sound refreshingly real, no triggers here. Meanwhile there are so many layers of instruments that could suffocate each other, but the mix is clear despite that. There are little details everywhere, like tiny glimmers barely visible in the walls of a cave network. Espedal’s vocals lay in the background when fitting but can also stand in front of it, often layered and edited for a disorienting effect. Like in I Speak Forgotten Voices or The Word – Choose to Vanish where it sounds like he is whispering out of your own head. I Speak Forgotten Voices plays with panning while an ecstatic saxophones sings an ode to madness. Later on, it sounds as if the guitarist and drummer are trying to cease his madness by attempting to play a dissonant black metal track, but the brass player puts a glorious stop to that.
While the album intentionally challenges the listener to follow the plot, it also has emotional and open moments such as the second half of This Moment The Life Of A Memory which seek for transcendence. The brass scrapes across my eardrums and my soul. By The Word sounds like each of the the musicians just started playing their own song at the same time and make it work just by sheer musical talent. The waves of guitar along with Espedal’s voice and the start-stop dynamics of the drums remind me of Portal of all bands. Their inaccessible work has a similar hostility, which seems to tell something in your brain that it is in danger. If you want to have an idea of how far this albums is from convention: this is the closest you will get to a traditional black metal song on this album.
I thought this record was fantastic and can only urge Trelldom to keep going like this. How incredible that such an original sound can still be made and especially that such a unique figure as Espedal has only gotten more creative with the years. I found the album cover quite strange at first, but it is in fact a perfect representation of the album. The band name is upside down, backwards, partially obscured, out of focus, and in the background. It is as if they are mocking you. Release yourself from expectation. Become lost. Be uncomfortable.
This is not a record you can just put on whenever. It has clearly been made for intense and attentive listening. People who love a sonic challenge had better brace themselves. If you want to hear five Norwegians maim an album as hard as they can while still making the end result listenable, then this is for you. However, if you hope for something that goes down a little easier you had best look elsewhere. The promo text warned us and I will repeat it here again: ‘Better prepare to be challenged by every note!’
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