HÅLVÄG – HÅLVÄG (Darker Than Black Records)

Hålväg’s self-titled debut full-length arrived amid neither fanfare nor hype last summer and I decided that I was going to purchase it as soon as it was released on vinyl. However, nothing has been doing at DTB on that front as of yet so I opted to acquire the rather fantastic ‘Hålväg’ on CD while continuing my patient wait.

(If you look around hard enough, you can pick up CDs for practically nothing in some webstores.)

Anyhow, this is an album that deserves to be better known. Hailing from Vinland (i.e. North America; Seattle to be precise), Hålväg delivers five tracks of stunning, subtly atmospheric Black Metal in around 40 minutes. Normally, when there is any melody involved whatsoever it tends to put me off, but there is nothing normal about ‘Hålväg’ – what we are dealing with here really is magnificent stuff. Check it out.

Evilometer: 666/666