Tjaktjadálvve - Encompassing Nothingness - review
Tjaktjadálvve - Encompassing Nothingness - review
Band
Tjaktjadálvve Album
Encompassing Nothingness Style
Depressive black metal Release date
February 15, 2026 Tracklist
01. The Solitude Of Abject Darkness02. Norrsken
03. Longing
04. Encompassing Nothingness
A review by
AndyMetalFreak February 23, 2026
Tjaktjadálvve is a Swedish one-man DSBM project established in 2022 by prolific guitarist Matthew Bell Troldhaugen, Wizardthrone and more) under the pseudonym M. The full-length debut Lifeless was released the same year, which was then followed a year later by sophomore effort Echoes On A Windswept. Although both albums were generally well received, it's only now that Tjaktjadálvve's career appears to be shaping up to be something special. Three years on, M. now returns with the third full-length album Encompassing Nothingness, which not only surpasses the quality of the two albums before it, but blows away most of what else has come from the DSBM scene in recent years. Understandably, this is a big statement for me to make, but I believe my words will be fully justified once you uncover the quality that lies within this beautifully atmospheric and emotive album.
Encompassing Nothingness is one of those particular albums where you should take the meaning "depressive" under the DSBM tag with a pinch of salt. You'll find many albums like this to be a rather uplifting listening experience more so than a depressing one, as is with the case of bands such as Austere, Woods Of Desolation, and Gris. You might find this style of black metal a good form of therapy, one that can uplift your mind and spirit if you've hit a very low point in your life. The raw authentic production, hypnotic tremolos, enchanting keys, emotional atmospheres, and tortuous shrieks can, in fact, have a positive effect on one's mental state, and that's where Encompassing Nothingness manages to succeed.
The album features 4 songs with a total runtime of just 32 minutes, but for what it lacks in length, it surely makes up for in atmosphere, emotion, and memorability.The grey, cold, misty Nordic woodland on th album cover is simple but effective, and paints an accurate picture of what to expect, with music that is similarly depressing yet beautiful. The album flows effortlessly as one, with each song merging together with the next through the sound of a cold howling gust of wind. These interludes go hand-in-hand with the atmospheric synth-laden passages that capture the true spirit of a harsh Nordic winter, passages that are placed to break up the traditional black metal instrumentation.
The instrumentation is minimalistic to say the least, but it achieves exactly what it needs to by drawing the listener deeper into its atmosphere while it toys with one's emotions. The tremolo riffs don't vary much during each song; instead they tend to loop in a hypnotic semi-melodic fashion at mostly slow-to-moderate tempos, rendered with a rough icy tone, while the bass pulsates alongside the drums. The vocals represent the sub-genre just as classically as the music itself, and are passionately performed with a real sense of pain and anguish in typical emotional DSBM fashion. You get a real sense of the vocalist's grief and sorrow through the shrieks, screeches, and howls, but you experience a strange comfort and warming sensation deep within as a result of this. It feels like you're not alone on this journey; M. is guiding you like a shining beacon through the dark path of depression, so you needn't suffer in solitude anymore.
The first 3 songs tick every box needed for an outstanding blend of DSBM and atmoblack, but then the closing 10-minute title track is in a different league entirely. For me, the closer is the absolute pinnacle of what this subgenre is all about, combining the raw ferocity of traditional black metal with inhospitable wintery atmospheres and a powerful sense of melancholy. The keys are enchantingly melodic, the riffs are memorable and hypnotizing, and if anyone were to ask what either DSBM or atmo-black is all about, then I'd point them straight to this very song.
What Encompassing Nothingness does is perfectly blend the emotions of the human mind with the spirit of the cold Nordic winter environment, and there's such a vivid atmosphere and sense of melancholia achieved here that will stay with fans of atmoblack/DSBM for a long time. Bands such as Austere and Woods Of Desolation may have set the standard for the subgenre today, but Tjaktjadálvve are definitely heading in the direction of catching them on the pedestal. Indeed, with Encompassing Nothingness, they may have set a new bar for other DSBM/atmoblack bands to now follow.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 6 |
| Production: | 7 |
Written on 23.02.2026 by
Written on 23.02.2026 by
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