Time. It does what it does. It marches, onward and steady, each of us warring against or accepting, but still at its grim behest and beneath its law. Art – for those who create such – is a means to capture a moment or period from Time and leave a mark. “I was here.” “This is how I saw the world or myself.” When we rush to make that statement, that claim, it can be done poorly, or not fully thought through, yet it remains in the universe, the half-work of a creator who couldn’t comprehend what they were experiencing. Thus, when VEMOD releases its second album over 10 years since Venter pa stormene and over twenty years after its birth as a band, consider that The Deepening is at once a document of that space between releases, and an illuminating camera flash of where the trio is now.

Warm, robust yet understated synths and strums carry us through ‘Mot oss, in ild’, and into ‘Der guder dor’. Towering in the way of IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT at its best, yet undeniably Scandinavian in execution, the drums of Eskil Blix alone are enough to roll you under, the low end bolstered by Espen Kalstad’s fluid basslines. The trio knows itself well enough, has lived with these songs enough by now to allow them their space to breathe, to exhale aural threads, woven into tapestries over the course of an extended time, as here. Jan Even Asli’s guitars shimmer when taking the lead [9:35-11:00], and when joined and washed along waves of synth and choral layered vocals, the transition and blend are seamless.

Not that all is sublime within The Deepening, though. ‘True North Beckons’ rises as Jotunheimen above the tundra, a frigid and forbidding shadow against an unforgiving sky, the sheer cacophony of Nature’s majestic symphony put to tune, and standing proudly beside ENSLAVED, THYRFING and other practitioners of blackness who also know how to cultivate atmosphere. Instrumental, ‘Inn I lysande natt’ loses none of its pull for the want of vocals. An almost travelogue feeling pervades, bits of Morricone soundtracks invoked by the guitar tone and driving rhythms so that one imagines themselves on the journey VEMOD is sure to have taken to bring life to its second.

Rarely do the production and mix become as integral a part of the album experience as they do within, and in this case act almost as an unseen but felt presence, making for an unforgettable listen, even at first spin. The one fault, I suppose, is that the bar is set so high so early in the year for 2024. If The Deepening is any indication, we have something to look forward to.
Review By: Lord Randall

VEMOD
The Deepening
Prophecy Productions