“Many moons ago in the distant year of 2015, Kjeld barreled into my eardrums and then my top five with the outstanding Skym, which was and remains one of the most exciting modern black metal records I’ve heard since I started writing for this blog. Nearly six years and thirty-odd firings later, I get to write about Kjeld again.” Kjeld by death.
“Oale groond is apparently steeped in the history and traditions of Twente, a region our resident Dutch expert told me is a rural area in the Eastern Netherlands. Releases following such long periods of seeming inactivity tend to go one of two ways: the first is that the resulting product is highly polished and evidently the labor of many hours; the second is that the band was truly inactive and subsequent albums demonstrate the lack of imagination which had previously stunted the band. Which way does this go?” groond to a halt.
“I look upon the squiggly logo lightly imposed upon a dusky, yet colorful landscape and I realize that almost a half an hour has passed. Boy where does the time go? I finally break out of my trance and hit the play button, having queued up Asgrauw’s third offering, Gronspech. Well, I could have seen that coming miles away; this is quintessential 90’s black metal. Normally I feel ambivalence towards this particular strain. It drains me, the grating guitars and the wanton shrieks sapping my will to continue more quickly than most other subgenres of metal might. But this time I am finding myself once again entranced by what Asgrauw have on display.” Blackness from the land of orange.
