Album Review: Verwoed’s “Bodemloos”

It seems that the Dutch have done it again. One man mastermind VERWOED seems to have struck gold with Bodemloos – 3 tracks of blistering, atmospheric black metal straight from the heart of the Netherlands. Recently released through Argento Records, Bodemloos seamlessly blends traditional black metal with more modern elements, weaving in and out between fast paced tremolo picking and thick, heavy atmosphere with a dash of psychedelia.

 

 

 

Formally known as Woudloper, VERWOED emerged in 2014, with a mammoth self-titled demo tape released through Breathe Plastic Records the following year. While sharing similarities in sound and dynamics, VERWOED greatly surpasses Woudloper with this latest release by delving deeper into paranoid, almost hallucinogenic textures, entwined with dense, melodic ambiance that will leave you with one huge mind-fuck of a listening experience that is as terrifying as it is satisfying.

 

There is no specific song structure here – the listener is dragged compulsively through equal shades of dense melody and raw, visceral dissonance. Nihilistic in nature, melancholic in virtue. The opening track, which also shares the album title, pummels and pounds with blackened ferocity, before slowing down and shifting into a more melodic, post metal aesthetic. The second track, titled “Een Leven Aan de Oppervlakte” (translated roughly as “A Life on the Surface”) continues to swirl and morph, swelling into a vicious, dismal fury of blast beats and dissonant riffs. The vocals are guttural and ferocious, and add to the seemingly nightmarish environment. The album closes with “Leegte” (“Void”), a mournful piece that swells and sways through ethereal passages of ambient texture and sorrowful melody.

 

 

Bodemloos, whose English translation amounts to “Bottomless,” is exactly that – an unending exploration through corridors thick with atmosphere and rich experimentation. Recorded by John Bart Van Der Wal (who also mixed and mastered the album), Bodemloos is as barbaric as it is entrancing. A visceral ascension into a comforting psychosis, if such a thing is possible. Simply put, I did not want it to end.

Bodemloos is available as a limited edition vinyl through Argento Records. It is offered as a 1 sided 180 gram LP with an etching on side B (by the ever-so talented Reuben Sawyer of Rainbath Visuals), with cover art by Joost Vervoort of Terzij de Horde. The album is also available digitally on the VERWOED bandcamp.

VERWOED will manifest itself as a 5 piece for it’s first live performance on September 30th at dB’s in Utrecht, Netherlands.