DARKNESS SHALL RISE PRODUCTIONS is proud to present HERSIR’s highly anticipated debut album, “Hateful Draugar From the Underground”, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.
If classic outputs from DARKTHRONE, ENSLAVED, EMPEROR, or ISENGARD et. al. make your blood boil, you should make sure to purchase HERSIR’s first full-length and immerse yourself in its Northern Black Metal excellence.
Despite having already been incepted in 2016 by Grim Vindkall, who is primarily known for his band Domgård, Sweden’s HERSIR have up until this point kept a rather low profile. With only three demos to their name – none of which were released physically – the horde has remained a rather obscure entity.
Once released, chances are that the sheer quality of HERSIR’s Hateful Draugar from the Underground will rectify that situation in no time, though. Completely devoid of unnecessary gimmicks of any sort, HERSIR are all content and no show. For a change, everything – the well-written lyrics dealing with Nordic spirituality of the shadow side, the music, the visual presentation – feels genuine and without any infantile presence.
Their very aptly titled album convinces with hateful and majestic black metal of a distinctively northern nature. The vocals brimming with contempt and savagery are one of the highlights of the full-length. Vocalist Haugbúi’s rather low, raspy tone and pestilent delivery seem like the perfect fit for HERSIR’s rather simple and stripped-down compositions. Overtly complex structures are left out to augment the war-like quality of the recording and in favor of conjuring epic atmospheres often built upon melodies stemming from the old Nordic tradition. The impact of some of the memorable riffs is further increased by the sporadic inclusion of keyboards.
Overall, this album is the real deal and deserves to be attentively listened to by anyone into genuinely dark black metal.