Review: Veenlijk — Galgenberg

Band: Veenlijk
Album: Galgenberg (EP)
Genre: Black Metal
Country: The Netherlands
Label: Void Wanderer Productions
Released: Jan 23, 2025

Introduction

Veenlijk (bog body) is a new black metal band from Amersfoort, which is located in The Netherlands, for myself, I never heard of the band (which is logical since it’s pretty new), but when I saw the cover of the album I was intrigued.

The EP is described as follows; “Galgenberg brings you back to Medieval Amersfoort. A time when witches still burned at the stake, and innocent people were persecuted by the Church. A time when mysterious rituals were performed in the dark parts of the forests.

With that being said, let’s see what the new kids or warlocks on the block conjured up for us to enjoy…

Galgenberg

We start off with a small history lesson about the Galgenberg (Gallows Hill) in Amersfoort. On a small hill near the city (the hill had a direct view from all sides) stood a gallow made from stone. This gallow was used to deter oncoming visitors on route to Amersfoort, not to do any crime, or you will face the same fate as the person who was on display.

The person itself wouldn’t be hanged on the hill, that happened on the city square and after the verdict was completed, the corpse would be dragged to the hill and hanged once again. After a while, the body would decompose and the bones would be put in a grave below the gallow. This continued until 1809.

Tracklist:

  1. Egidiuslied
  2. Heksenkring
  3. Galgenberg
  4. Bloedbad

The EP has 4 tracks in total with a run-time of 21 minutes. It starts off with Egidiuslied (which is a famous Dutch poem/song from the Middle Ages). The track itself is quite long (for me at least), but has some interesting elements to keep drawing your attention towards it. The drums are decent, and the vocals match the vibe of the track. On some points on the track it gives off a hint of Wiegedood that for the most part is because of the vocal work, and that’s not a bad thing.

Heksenkring the second track of the EP, is faster and has a different sound to it than the first track, but still, there is that hint of Wiegedood and since I love Wiegedood, it isn’t a bad thing. The track also has some nice riffs, and drums and midway the song, you even get a punk vibe from it.

The rest you will have to discover for yourself when the EP is released on the 23rd of January this year. But overall, they all sound good. They also did a good job with mixing and mastering the album. The instruments do not drown the vocals.

Conclusion

Veenlijk delivered a great EP, and I’m excited about what the future will bring for this band. If they keep this level up, we won’t be disappointed, I’m sure about that. I also need to give credit to the artist who draw the wonderful logo of Veenlijk, that logo is very clever, and one of the better logos I’ve seen in a while. The same goes for the artwork of the album, it looks spectacular, so all the kudos to Kali Macabre, she did an outstanding job.

BMZ Rating: 7,5 – Good: A solid and enjoyable album overall. It boasts strong songwriting and performance quality, delivering a cohesive and satisfying listen.

YouTube player

Your thoughts on Galgenberg by Veenlijk

You can support Veenlijk here: https://voidwandererproductions.bandcamp.com/album/galgenberg

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