88. Nordjevel - "Gnavhòl"

Gnavhol. Another slice of Scandinavian black metal and this time from its spiritual homeland (and mine) Norway. Nordjevel are the brainchild of Doedsadmiral who has been around the blocks in numerous outfits. He wanted to create a band that builds on black metal’s archetype but provided more opportunity for creativity. “Gnavhol” is their third full-length release and the keyword here is intensity. It consists of ten slices of hyper-intense jagged metal. In fact its potency seems to increase as the album goes on. Just when you think it can’t get any more gnarled and extreme, it ratchets up vigor and dials everything up one more notch. It’s fair to say that I do like my black metal experimental and probably rather nuanced, but sometimes you just want something that can hit you between the eyes and grab hold of your throat. “Gnavh” certainly fulfils the criteria.