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 Gam

“Alt Hans Vaesen” (Den Ottende Kunst, 2023)

The Danish Black Metal band released, last year, their first Demo, and what a sonic experience it is. Affiliated with the label Den Ottende Kunst, home of another superb, and very singular project, Vaetteilden, Gam offered us their take on Medieval/Pagan Black Metal, Old School style. The sub-genre of Pagan Black Metal has always been described as A and B, with very little bands actually fitting the label. Is it due to the use of instrument normally used in Folk? Is it because the band builds melodies that are derivative of that time period or that musical lineage? I get confused at times. Labelling Primordial as a Pagan Folk Black Metal band, for example, today… makes my head turn and my brain start to overheat. Maybe I am the one mistaken, maybe…

Nonetheless, Gam does craft these beautiful melodies that one associates with castles and medieval sceneries, and that, for me, is a win. Their sound is very enrooted in Old School Black Metal, with this mid-pace structure, very steady and consistent. The music is not extremely aggressive nor chaotic, but rather melodic and pays attention to detail. I would not say they sound like Windir, because they do not, but that idea of actual Folk melodies is there. At the same time, at moments, their sound is quite contemporary, but without ever falling into a sterile fusion of Old and New. Their Old Side sounds Old, and their New Side sounds Old as well. Well, that might sound strange.

“Af Kaempers Aedle Slaegt” is, probably, my favorite track of this release. Hear that Pagan Folk riff? That is what I call quality. Sort of Old School Pagan Folk Graveland and their majestic and ferocious hymns! A call to arms, I reckon. That sound that used to rule the land and quickly went missing, has been recaptured by this Danish duo and put into tape, and it is marvelous. On a different note, but just for you to have an idea of what I am talking about: Forbidden Temple and Moenen of Xezbeth are 2 great examples of how musicians are returning to the roots of Black Metal, and I can hear some of that in Gam.

Den Ottende Kunst is, alongside Medieval Prophecy Records, one of the best labels around, and their bands aim for that sound that attracted so many of us to Black Metal many moons ago. Gam’s latest offering is essential for you to understand that the genre is not dead.


 

 

 

 

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