Tilintetgjort – In Death I Shall Arise

Tilintetgjort (Norwegian for ‘Destroyed’) is a Norwegian Avantgarde Black Metal quintet, made up of band members from a wide range of Black Metal-related acts, including Den Saakaldte and Whip – And, unsurprisingly, the music of Tilintetgjort is somewhat reminiscent of both. 

Ever since their inception back in 2020 they have so far released a Single (which can also be found on the release I am harping on about today), a Demo and In Death I Shall Arise, their debut Full-length album. Now, by the bands own admission this is by design, since they wanted to spend their time wisely cultivating their own unique brand of Black Metal, taking, shaping and recording all six tracks to their exact specifications. And now, after having listened to the nearly forty-seven minutes long album through to the end – Twice – I can safely say that their sound is, while perhaps not entirely unique, it is definitely distinctive in this day and age. 

Overall Tilintetgjort has the feel of a Second Wave Black Metal act (no doubt due to their Norwegian ancestry on top of their general approach) combined with some early First Wave influences thrown in. Their use of drums and (undistorted) guitar riffs in particular more than once had my mind drift back to the late eighties, to the era of Venom as well as the early Sodom releases – Definitely not what I had in mind when the band was introduced as a primarily Black Metal-focused release, but not at all an unwelcome development. 

Now, any recurring readers of my scribbles (if I have any) will probably remember that I have previously, at length, numerous times, pointed out that I do not do well with avantgarde nor otherwise experimental music. My mind is very rigid in that regard – While I do not mind trying out new sub-genres and bands, if they stray too far from my pre-conceived expectations (where those apply), I tend to be left cold by them. Hence the need for me to give In Death I Shall Arise a second spin; At first, due to my expectations being challenged in a manner I was unprepared for, I readjusted said expectations and entered their soundscape once more, treating it more akin to an eighties Punk/Thrash release than a more contemporary release. And within that mindset, I found Tilintetgjort to be a delightfully gritty, simplistic and angry band, detailing the horrors of insanity as well as alchemy. 

Mind you, the band is clearly made up of very talented musicians which is evident on all six tracks – And their decision to keep it ‘old-school’ and perform all instruments and vocals live simultaneously most certainly adds to their appeal (but that might just be due to me getting old and even more set in my ways). 

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