It’s been a comparatively quiet year from Season of Mist, for me at least.  Of course, that’s not to say they’ve been putting out garbage, but last year I felt like it was a nonstop stream of bangers from them, and this year my cup has been filled from other sources.  Still though, they do always manage to throw out their best material towards the end of the year, so when I was looking for albums to close out the year with and I saw Helfró and Tálgröf, I felt compelled to take a chance, knowing full well it could shake up my year end rankings pretty late in the game.

Helfró are mildly familiar to me, which is another reason why I felt like Tálgröf would be a solid bet.  The Icelandic duo’s self-titled 2020 debut resonated with fans of that oh-so-perennial icy cold black metal, with all its tremolo picking and blast beats, as well as fans of a more technical and death metal prerogative.  As usual, the duo of bandleader Ragnar Sverrisson on drums and vocals and Simon Thorolfsson on guitar and bass blaze the trail through the frigid winters of the Icelandic backcountry, but on Tálgröf, Helfró shift the formula much more towards the death metal side of the spectrum.  I do still feel quite confident that black metal stans will still find much to rejoice about with this album, though.  If you could describe them as “blackened death metal” before, they are much more so leaning into the death metal end.  Inspired equally by the mysticism of nature and brutal winters of Iceland as they are by the human condition and the chaos inherent therein, the pair blend the compelling melodies and atmosphere of black metal with the bonehead aggression of death metal and top it all off with lyrics that are more introspective, cerebral and thought-provoking this time around.

Before I read the bio in the promo, I thought I knew what I was in for.  Even after reading about their shift in tone and dynamics, I thought I knew what I was in for, but I can honestly say I was pleasantly surprised that Tálgröf sounds nothing like I thought it would.  From the get-go, “Jarteikn” rips into a weird, abrasive mix of icy black metal atmosphere and technical death metal riffage in the best way possible, in a way that seems to go beyond what is implied by the moniker “blackened death metal.”  The guitars go off from one end of the frequency spectrum to the other in record time, but they never sacrifice the musicality of the song for the sake of noodling.  The guitar work by Thorolfsson is very inventive, breaking off from the classic low string chug or wall of minor dyads and putting together patterns and melodies that don’t quite sound like anything else out there.  These are really well thought out compositions, and I think the best part of them is the death metal aspect they have been leaning into.  The aforementioned opener, lead single “Fláráð Fræði” and “Sindur” all spring to mind as examples of the way that Helfró weave together absolutely killer riffs that bring a lot of raucous energy and aggression.  It is impossible to listen to the breakneck pace of the drums or the energetic riffing and not bang your head along.  And speaking of the drums, Sverrisson deserves all the credit in the world for putting his whole chest into this performance.  You don’t get two features in Sick Drummer magazine without being a…well, a sick drummer.

All in all, Tálgröf is a welcome addition to the Season of Mist catalog, and it holds true to the precedent of giving me a lot to think about with End of Year Season coming up.  At the very least, it’s inventive, aggressive and a ton of fun to listen to.  Perhaps you should stay tuned next week for even more black metal goodness from the label…

— Ian

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Tálgröf is available now on Season of Mist.  For more information on Helfró, visit their Facebook page.