Jordfäst – Av Stoft Review

When a band is releasing its sophomore album with only two tracks spanning 33 minutes, you tend to think there must be a wealth of other releases that led them to this bold approach. Particularly in the realm of black metal, you might start digging around for a number of single-song demos or raw-as-hell EPs. Jordfäst, however, seems to have been born a fully matured adult and skipped their rowdy childhood and sloppy teen years, instead only capable of crafting complex, lengthy and engaging songs. Their debut, Hädanefter, released all of one year ago, follows the exact same approach and nearly the same runtime. This duo knows what they want to do and does it well.

Perhaps that level of clarity in vision makes a bit more sense when you uncover that despite technically being a duo, Elis Edin is the primary writer and multi-instrumentalist covering the guitars, bass, keys and occasional backing vocal. The group on Av stoft is rounded out by primary vocalist Olof Bengtsson and hired-gun drummer Joakim Unger. Oh, and there are some guest vocals from label mate Joakim Svensson of Skogen for good measure. Edin also took on the recording and producing responsibilities. While the approach here is nearly a one-man band, my guess is by having at least a few other voices involved Edin is able to have a trusted sounding board to help flesh out some ideas and know when to reign in others. We’ve all seen bands that like to write 16-minute songs feel the need to make every album over an hour long, but Edin and friends keep their works floating just above a crisp half hour and that really helps it feel more potent.

Fear not immersive black metal fan, that to-the-point runtime doesn’t mean Jordfäst isn’t taking you on a journey; it’s just more of a Hobbit’s worth of a journey rather than a whole Lord of the Rings trilogy’s worth. Additionally, that journey is not one of slow-burn atmospherics and folksy dances. Jordfäst’s preferred form of “epic” is one of pillaging and fire. “Abortologen” spends its first few moments on some Viking-style chorals and chanting sounds but doesn’t take long to hit you with a titan of a downtrodden riff. It becomes immediately apparent that Edin is likely a guitar player above all because Av stoft is stacked with riffs. What makes them all the more impactful is his songwriting chops. He knows just how long riffs should be implemented, how often they should return and what should balance against them. Certain guitar parts and song passages are repeated in “Abortologen” but not in a manner where you get several minutes in a row of the same thing. Instead, Jordfäst creates engaging songs by bringing back key passages when they’ll be most powerful. That same downtrodden riff reappears more than once throughout “Abortologen.”

Around the 3:30 mark, there are some clean vocals backing a whirling riff and some fist-pumping drums that quickly transitions into that opening powerhouse part bringing the speed back down. It continues to slow and stretch bringing a certain sense of reprieve but one with a sense of battle fatigue rather than rest. Just as you think the song will shift into a stretch of calm, Jordfäst hits you with blazing drums and one of the fieriest and most technical riffs on the whole album. That assault then provides an opening for a lengthy dancing lead giving you something a little different to sink your teeth into. Similarly, at the 14-minute mark, guitar feedback bleeds into nothing but the sounds of birds chirping and pseudo-spoken word vocals seeming to be reciting a long-lost tale. Right as you assume that slow roll is leading to a soft outro, BAM, that opening riff comes back in to crush you one more time in its most powerful rendition.

“Kom eld, kom regn” shows the band’s ability to even more effectively implement the viking choral style notes, almost like monk chanting. Throughout the song, those vocals back the riffs and songs making everything feel more dramatic. At the two-minute mark, a held baritone note emanates over an open passage with slow drum hits that eventually transition to a massive headbanger of riffs and drums. There’s a push and pull of these vocals adding extra melodies, layering in sync with the guitars and adding extra notes outside of the proceedings to create another layer that makes the song feel bigger. Of course, “Kom eld, kom regn” is also chock full of just as many killer riffs and parts as its predecessor.

The biggest shift from Hädanefter to Av stoft is the production. The newest album boasts a cleaner more precise and robust sound. While the previous album was a bit more open and raw, the bigger focus on razor-sharp riffs and less atmospherics lends itself well to this updated approach but some listeners may be turned off by the lack of rawness. That being said, the album is also mixed perfectly and Edin does a great job spicing in extra notes and elements when the songs need them most in order to keep each passage or riff from getting stale. You can look to around 11:30 on “Abortologen” where he throws in these odd little extra notes in either ear at the end of the riff that helps it feel like it’s just about to fly off the rails and barely keeping it together. That extra bit of wildness adds a lot more energy to the proceedings.

All in all, Jordfäst deliver a grandiose dose of riff-oriented black metal that doesn’t tread into a pompous capital E epic and instead deliver a potent rain of fire.