SLEGEST Loyndom (2013) CD

Norway keeps producing bands that sound like they were raised on fog and old grievances, and Slegest are no exception. Loyndom, released in 2013, sits in that uncomfortable and compelling space where black metal and doom metal stop arguing and start collaborating. Sung mostly in Norwegian, which is exactly how it should be, it has the weight of something genuinely ancient pressing down on every track.

The blackened doom tag gets thrown around loosely but Slegest earn it. There's a rawness here that shares DNA with Sarke and Blodhemn without sounding derivative, and the tracklist moves through its paces with a patience that rewards the kind of listening you do in a dark room with headphones. This is the sort of record that makes the alternative and dark aesthetic crowd understand why the Norwegians never really stopped being interesting.

Format: CD, full length album. Country of origin: Norway. Tracklist: 1. Ho som haustar aleine (4:33), 2. Rooted in Knowledge (3:56). Fans of: Sarke, Blodhemn, Sarkom, Slagmaur.