Häxkapell – Om jordens blod och urgravens grepp Review

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Label: Nordvis ProduktionEU  
Genre:  Black Metal / Folk Metal
Release Date:  17-01-2025

Recently, I have come to appreciate black metal that leans into the Swedish side of folk music. Hailing from the northern town of Haparanda, that sits square on the Swedish side of the Sweden/Finland border, Häxkapell (translated, ‘Witch Chapel’) leans into this sound that is unmistakably Scandinavian. You can find it in the cold autumn stage that sends shivers through the tragedies in Opeth‘s Blackwater Park, or the airy summer that dances through the early In Flames albums. More relevant to Häxkapell, you can also find this sound in the rain soaked despair that closes the embrace of Shining. But Om jordens blod och urgravens grepp (‘Of earth’s blood and the grip of the ancient grave’) is also a black metal album that pays attention to making most of the trek through this earthy forest path memorable. Sole member and composer Oraklet (Janne Posti) handles writing and most of the instruments with a tight cohesion that is rare in this genre. With Posti stating that he has gone over the album with several editing passes, it would impress me even if I wasn’t a sucker for this kind of downcast sound.

Folk tunes and cold black metal take their turns leading the compositions on Om jordens blod och urgravens grepp. Violin and an folk-influenced riff leads in “Satans rötter” (Satan’s roots) in a way that makes me recall the nature-obsessed sound of Marrasmieli‘s debut a few years back. On the other side of the coin, “Metamorfos” (Metamorphosis) alternates between cold black metal and some epic sections that recall Vanum‘s Ageless Fire. Adding emotion to many of the tracks, spoken word sections that take the same path that Vintersorg does with clean vocals, albeit less epic in scope. Playing violin, viola and contributing the spoken word parts is a session musician only credited as IPU. IPU‘s contributions add a lot of flavor to this album, and manage to snag some highlights that the Häxkapell would be worse off without. This is clear in songs like “Hem” (Home), where Häxkapell corrupts the classic acoustic folk ballad that is a cultural thing in Sweden with its eery dissonant chords and deep vocal warmth.

That isn’t to say that Posti doesn’t impress throughout Om jordens blod och urgravens grepp. From playful drums and epic black metal (“Metamorfos”) to folky riffs and warm bass (“Vindar från förr”), I would describe Posti‘s writing as subtle yet not afraid to show off a bit where appropriate. The production on this album excels, offering the best of both worlds with the icy cold depression and the warm tragedy of the album’s intent resonating equally. Posti‘s guitar playing alternates between lying in the background as a misty haze and offering chunky riffs that pull you along. It’s not without bite, but the overall feeling is one of a dynamic warmth, where every instrument has room to breathe. As Posti describes the album as “a reflection on life and death through the dark, obscure lens of earth and soil“, I’m inclined to agree — Om jordens blod och urgravens grepp is enjoyably akin to wearing a warm blanket and staring out at the dour weather outside, pissing (and sometimes shitting) down torrents of rain on your Christmas spirit, wondering how it will all end. That’s the experience of the Swedish winter for ya.

Rating: 7/10

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