Band:	Bekëth Nexëhmü
Album:	De Fördolda Klangorna
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	November 30, 2019
Guest review by:	LuciferOfGayness

01. Bestens Urblod
02. Dunklets Svarta Urkall
03. Ragnaröks Ankomst
04. Urtidens Jättar
05. Döpt I Elden
06. Det Gapande Svaljet
07. Vemodets Andetag
08. Mörkrets Uråldriga Makter
09. I Trolls Skepnad
10. Dunklets Åkallelse
11. Furstens Välde
12. De Svarta Vindar
13. Vision Af Hels Prakt
14. Mörkrets Makter (Outro)

While modern black metal travels through the air in social media, traditional elitist black metal digs itself down into the underground. Bekëth Nexëhmü is an improvisational one-man black metal band from Nyköping, Sweden; De Fördolda Klangorna is its second full-length.

As black metal, a genre once draped in mystery, misanthropy, elitism, and satanism, becomes more and more accessible, capitalistic, and mainstream, Bekëth Nexëhmü's latest offering is a journey downwards, deep down into the mountains where there is no possibility for internet or obeying social media. Conceptually, this is an album that takes the listener down to where the prince of darkness has been chained in the mountains. Swartadauþuz, our black metal sorcerer, takes inspiration from the Edda, a beautiful story of how the worldly masters will succumb when Ragnarök comes and the black prince is released from mountains that have trapped him for thousands of years.

This is sorcerous, guitar-driven music that guides you towards its darkness in an Arizmenda-like style. The unconventional guitar-playing has a slight sound of drunkenness to it, as if it had drunk some mead with its trolls and giants before it started to lead your way down to the master. And this improvisational style always puts you a bit on the back foot; you're always trying to catch up with Swartadauþuzs. This time, I catch up with him and grab him by the arms and say to him, "Look around here at what you have created, a compact darkness, but why in hell do you have to release an album once a week? Think about it, man; if you would wait a bit and evaluate your albums for at least a couple of weeks, maybe months, before you release something, then maybe this darkness would be even darker, the tunnels would be more frightening, and the beast would sound even more alive." He just looks at me, and then he pulls out his guitar and starts playing his black metal and the journey continues... I count seven full-lengths in 2019, including Musmahhu and Gardsghastr. And the guy is mixing other bands' stuff as well; Chaos Moon's Eschaton Mémoire is his best work yet in that department. This sorcerer breathes satanic metal and spits out hot fire uncompromisingly. And, to be fair, this is a classic black metal album; the guitar work is so inspired that it is as if the Edda and Ragnarök have been waiting for this album for hundreds of years, in need of a worthy soundtrack to the darkness that soon will arise.

This album is two hours long; it's a long journey. When we come halfway, everything starts turning ambient and melancholic; the further down and nearer we go to the prince, the more sorrowful it sounds. And when we finally reach our goal, it's just the dark prince, Swartadauþuz, and I here, no one else. The times when hordes of black metal fans came to greet Satan are gone; he looks tired and sorry. Now what to do down here when all the cool kids are using social media? It's beautiful, though; we can just sit here and listen to this journey.