Tusenårseken – Omhuldra

Omhuldra is the new album from Tusenårseken (The Thousand Year Oak), a solo project from Sweden, which we have presented on these pages (2023) when Andreas Karlsson (responsible for all the instruments and vocals) released his sophomore full-length Mardr​ö​msmeditationer. Now he strikes back with another highly potent album entitled Omhuldra, and released on Grind to Death Records.

Omhuldra consists of ten quite lengthy and epic tracks, not just when it comes to the length of each individual song, but also in his general approach to the songwriting and the atmosphere he creates throughout the album. It’s perfectly exemplified already with the album intro track named “Ode till alla fattiga kräk”, which starts with this tribal/folk percussion part, along with some clear vocals. It changes a bit further on into this same song as he makes a twist, going into more raw and fast direction. Nevertheless, both approaches are carefully implemented and the transition feels smooth and natural. Tremolo picking and some blast beats kicks in towards to end of the song, while some nice melodies are introduced throughout the song. “Våren Förgiftad” is the next track with different opening. It has this short serene opening sequence before it unleashes a pure sonic black metal assault featuring hypnotic repeating riff, that feels a bit chaotic esp. when this ominous and threatening melody is being added. “Riket Bortom Livet” is a straight-up black metal song, a very fercious dynamic track, featuring some harsh vocals, Satyricon-styled riffage and a few mood & tempo changes. Throughout Omhuldra one can hear a mixture of slow- to mid-paced and fast parts along a brief use of sounds of nature and even a few spoken-word parts. Thus, “Himmelens Hand” returns to black metal after a very brief catchy drum intro sequence. Soon after those are supplemented by some hellish vocals and a maelstrom of unique melodies. “Ett Hjärta Som Lättats Från Kroppen” is the longest track on Omhuldra. It begins with an isolated guitar riff that is delivered in a funereally slow pace. The atmospherics are excellent, a the acoustic section appears beautifully, leading into an epic finale. “En Vila I Eländet” serves as a short interlude with clear elements of Swedish folk music; a perfect short piece leading to another excellent song, “Mörkret Inuti Allt”. It’s another aggressive song, with a full black metal assaults, yet with a desolate and nihilistic atmosphere. On “Oändligt Är Dårens Nummer” we get another short tribal opening, before it again launches another full blasted black metal featuring a superb vocal tone, alongside these blasting and theatrical parts. The closing track, “Grönskan Vi Minns”, is quite similar to the opener, which is a nice way to wrap whole album so it feels cohesive and well-thought out.

Towards the end of this review I will briefly recommend tracks like; “Riket Bortom Livet” and “Ett Hjärta Som Lättats Från Kroppen”, as they’re both the best example of all the elements that define Tusenårseken‘s sound.

The production part of Omhuldra sounds professional, at least when we are dealing with a piece of atmospheric black metal where all instruments and vocals have to appear clearly in an overall sound. As you could see from the song-titles listed above, all the lyrics are written in Swedish, covering folk traditions, legends, myths and similar themes.

In conclusion; Omhuldra is a well-written and superb album on all fronts. With its glorious fury, its jagged peaks, ethereal melodies and daunting and overwhelming power, Omhuldra will be a gift to be treasured for a lifetime, especially for fans of atmospheric black/folk metal and the likes of Satyricon, Enslaved, Borknagar, Gorgoroth, Skald, Vintersorg, Agalloch etc.

For further info visit https://grindtodeathrecords.bandcamp.com/album/omhuldra