Band:	Nortt
Album:	Endeligt
Style:	Black metal, Funeral doom metal
Release date:	December 29, 2017
A review by:	X-Ray Rod

01. Andægtigt Dødsfald
02. Lovsang Til Mørket
03. Kisteglad
04. Fra Hæld Til Intet
05. Eftermæle
06. Afdø
07. Gravrøst
08. Støv For Vinden
09. Endeligt

From the beginning, Nortt knew how to carve his own spot in the halls of funeral doom with very vivid and authentic images of despair. He developed a sound that, while simplistic, was truly distinct: Droning, funeral doom that effortlessly merged itself with black metal aesthetics and phantasmagoric dark ambient. I've yet to hear a project that evokes the same images that Nortt forces into my mind. A cemetery dressed with a cloak of thick fog may sound like a "kvlt" band's cliché, but with Nortt, that image is so real to the point that you can almost smell the petrichor, feel the humid fog on your face, and touch the cold, unnerving graves.

To me, it was obvious that the project would eventually dive deep into the ambient waters as Nortt's primary goal is achieving this overwhelming landscape and not on how to achieve it with metal. This transition can already be heard on the band's sophomore album, Ligfærd. I understand how this transition was less welcomed by the majority on Galgenfrist, his last album for 10 years, but I must admit I highly enjoyed it for what it was. At this point you are begging me not to leave you on a cliffhanger, so? Yes. This album has a firm foot in dark ambient.

I want to point out some differences before some of you run away: The guitars are far more present production-wise than on Galgenfrist. They still have a very droning vibe to them, yet the sound is warm and moving. This is especially true on "Fra Hæld Til Intet," a track that might be Nortt's most melancholic and touching song? As if the melodies slowly took your tired body to its final resting place. The songs are short, to-the-point and with little meandering. This could be seen as a great change from Galgenfrist, as Endeligt is more focused. It also means that some melodies and moods are not properly developed in such a short time. Some tracks feel more like intros for the ones that follow, leading me to think that some songs could be more effective if they were merged together. There are also several seconds of silence in between tracks. I enjoy hearing the last droning notes fade away as much as the next guy but there's a limit to that! These faults may seem small but with a genre like this, they can be fatal as it distracts you and takes you away from the trance.

While I've always been in love with Nortt's sound and intentions, the songwriting is conflicted on Endeligt. I sincerely enjoyed the album, but I wished there was more time for some songs to get a proper momentum, which is why the highlights are the longer tracks. I pray that the church bells and the slow, suffocating last breaths of droning riffs in Endeligt's ending are not a foreboding sign of Nortt's end, as I'm sure the project still has more to offer.