Dödsrit - Nocturnal Will (2024)

Creating something new and different sounding in Metal these days is quite a hard task, however, Sweden’s Dödsrit has managed to do that and pushes it to the limit with “Nocturnal Will”. Over the years the band has been refining their mixture of Melodic Black Metal, Punk, Crust, and even some traditional Heavy Metal. In this release, the six tracks and nearly 45 minutes of music showcase a high-octane sound that is quite epic, melodic, and yet heavy and powerful.

Opening with the ravaging “Irjala”, the band starts off with some very Heavy Metal sounding riffs that made us think we had put on an old Dio/Iron Maiden release. The track quickly picks up with intense drumming and a hearty sense of melody, thanks to some excellent melodic passages and exciting guitar leads. The band’s sound is nicely layered to incorporate elements that need more than a few listens to discover, as “Nocturnal Fire” and “Utmed Gyllbergens Stig” demonstrate.

As our favorite track, “As Death Comes Reaping” the band nicely unleashes some Vreid-esque melodic guitars that make up for excellent headbanging moments. However, it’s the tempo changes and engaging mixture of ideas what make this track finish strong with some killer guitar leads. The band’s unique mixture of styles is very quickly evident in this release as your brain is quickly confused and expecting something completely different from the album art.

Overall, “Nocturnal Will” unleashes a very unique and powerful sound that is familiar all the time, but difficult to exactly pinpoint. We particularly love the excellent guitar work that is laid on top of crafty drumming and a wide variety of tempos and vibes. If you are looking for more melodic music than your traditional Black Metal and tend to like Progressive/Melodic/Pagan Metal, Dödsrit is a band you need to check out.

Label: Wolves of Hades

Release: March 22nd, 2024

Genre: Melodic Black Metal/Crust/Heavy Metal

Country: Sweden