Review: Afsky - Om Hundrede år

Introduction

Ole Pedersen Luk, the man behind the Danish black metal band Afsky, has released his third full album titled “Om Hundrede år,” which translates to “In a hundred years.” The Danish black metal scene is growing, and it has produced some great bands like “Ildskær” and, of course, Afsky, which is the subject of this review. Let’s see and hear what the new album has to offer.

The Album

“Om Hundrede år,” consists of 6 tracks with a runtime of 42 minutes, but those minutes will fly by when listening to this new album.

Stormfulde hav
Frosne vind
Tak for alt
Det der var
Tid
Fred være med støvet

The sound stage on this album is superb. The acoustic sections bring a lot of atmosphere to the album, and the melancholic sound of the songs, combined with the vocals and guitar, make me feel melancholic as a listener. The way the album transfers that feeling is done very well – at least for me. I’m sure it won’t affect every listener the same way, though. I also want to mention the vocals, they are spot on and really fit the feeling of the album. Sadly, I couldn’t find any lyrics for the songs, so I couldn’t honestly say what the album is about. However, based on the feeling I get, it seems like a sad story is being told.

Track Highlights

We begin with the first track of the album, titled ‘Stormfulde hav’. The song starts with a peaceful and beautiful acoustic guitar part, which gives a nice melancholic vibe and is a great start to the album. It just pulls you in, especially when listening on headphones. After that, the icy vocals kick in, and I start to feel a bit of dread. That’s the overall vibe I got from this song. The vocals become more intense as the track continues, and the drums pick up with some nice blast beats and guitar riffs. Overall, it’s just a great start to the album.

‘Tak for alt’, which means ‘Thank you for everything’ in Danish, is the third track of the album. It starts off with a guitar solo, and then the drums, and vocals kick in, and you can just feel the agony. With songs like this, I would love to read the lyrics and hope the band will make them available on Bandcamp. It’s difficult to transfer a feeling you get to a reader, so I can only advise you, the reader, to give this album a try and let us know in a comment what feeling it gave you and why.

‘Tid’ or ‘Time’ is the fifth track of the album, and this is my favorite song on the album. The intro is nice and has a bit of a dungeon synth vibe to it, but as soon as the drums kick in and work together with the vocals, this track just keeps on giving. I love the overall vibe of the track.

I won’t discuss all the tracks in this review because I feel that a new album, no matter which band you listen to, is a journey, and you have to undergo that journey on your own. The same goes for this album.

Conclusion

The conclusion is pretty straightforward: go and listen to this album if you love melancholic/atmospheric black metal, and you won’t be disappointed. You can give the album a spin by clicking the YouTube video below. The album is also available on all major streaming platforms. So, give it a try, and if you like the album, buy it and support the artist!

BMZ Score 8 / 10