Discog Diving: Ondskapt
Orthodox Black Metal, they called it, and the band was said to be cursed.
A lot has been said over the years about “second wave black metal,” or Norwegian black metal—the bands, the history, the lore, etc.—to the point it’s almost become a meme, no thanks to Fenriz of Darkthrone or Abbath being legitimately funny, and how easy it is to disrespect Kristian-, I mean Varg Vikernes. Regardless, the major drawback of the ’90s Norwegian scene getting so overexposed and dissected for three decades and counting is how little talk there is about a lot of black metal scenes across countries and even decades. That’s why I decided to embark on this little journey and retrospective over a little known ensemble known as Ondskapt.
Ondskapt was a Swedish black metal band that was formed at the turn of the new millennium by front man Acerbus and original drummer Nabemih. There’s very little to no publicly available information about this band, and most of what is known is taken from scattered interviews that the band did irregularly and spontaneously, and since I’m not interested in just regurgitating a Wikipedia article, the main thing you need to know is that this band managed to exist for 23 years through sheer stubbornness and devotion to the art of black metal, despite what seemed like a lifetime of undisclosed struggles, hardship and inconveniences, if the band’s front man and co-founder Acerbus is to be believed. He did say multiple times that his band was cursed.
Logo by co-founder Nabemih.
Other than that, Ondskapt were both part of the new generation of Swedish black metal that bands like Watain, Armagedda and Shining were part of, and also frequently tagged with the “Orthodox Black Metal” label that was coined by Ofermod (also a Swedish band) and later applied to the bands that were signed to the French label Norma Evangelium Diaboli. The common thread of all these bands was a Theistic approach to Satanism that was unambiguous and a deeply misanthropic worldview, and the music was focused on being as distressing and ominous as possible. And suffice to say, Ondskapt was one of the few bands in black metal to produce genuinely dark, terrifying music, almost to the point where it sounded less like metal and more like completely deranged funeral dirges.
So with that out of the way, let us commence.
Slave Under His Immortal Will (2001)
Slave Under His Immortal Will, the band’s debut EP, was performed by a duo—though if Metal Archives is to be believed, the band had already blasted through a full lineup by this point. Anyway, from the get-go the band engulfs you with pure, unrelenting darkness, 2 tracks, just over 15 minutes and depending on how well versed you are in black metal, this will be either unbearable or an endurance test. The band really succeeded on their first attempt at creating an ominous and funereal atmosphere; while bands of this period were very focused on speed and brutality, Ondskapt did the unthinkable by slowing down, and yet, they also don’t skip on the brutality, but it is definitely not the focus.
My major issue with the EP is how, despite the band already coming strong with a defined identity, you can still hear some of their influences, mainly Mayhem and Ofermod—particularly, the former’s slower tracks off their first album, and the latter’s at the time only EP. (Also, the crude production thanks to a shitty cassette recording, and Acerbus’ vocal stylings being reminiscent of Dead and Attila Csihar.) However, being indebted to their influences is not a crime.
Draco Sit Mihi Dux (2003)
After bringing on Wredhe as bassist, the band got to work on their debut album. Getting a boost in sound quality, despite recording in an alleged haunted former mental asylum aka The Abyss studio, the album sounds clean, albeit a bit bass-heavy. However, the described supernatural experiences with supposed ghosts and hearing things in the night at this converted recording space can definitely be felt in the music. Technically speaking the band hasn’t really changed sonically, the atmosphere is still as dark and intense as the EP, and yet, it does sound like an evolution and more refined.
Obviously having an extra musician adds more dynamics, and the overall cleaner sound allows for the music to sound fuller, with greater depth, and this also enhances the dark atmosphere; granted, the album opens with an Alfred Schnittke composition, so the band makes no secret what type of headspace they want the listener to be in, and considering the songs have no titles but just numerals, this record demands you read the lyrics with the music. Much like with the EP, even if you have a tolerance for black metal, this record will definitely force you to travel to hell with them.
Dödens evangelium (2005)
And now we’re at the absolute masterpiece of death and devilry this band produced, and in my opinion, one of the best black metal albums of the 2000s. Dödens Evangelium is a vile, hellish and utterly disturbing album. The depths of darkness Ondskapt ventured for this album is unlike anything I’ve ever heard barring the works of Funeral Mist. Opening with the sound of sheep, the band has perfected their sound and shed their influences. Furthermore, the production by black metal connoisseur and distiller Tore “Necromorbus” Stjerna perfectly suits the band’s sound and achieves that sweet spot of being clean enough for the instrumentation to be audible while keeping the raw grit of the performances intact.
As for the band itself, it now features bassist S.B., although Wredhe is still credited with some bass tracks. This was the lineup that truly clicked for Ondskapt, and both drummer Nabemih and guitarist Wredhe have their time in the spotlight to deliver demonic orations alongside frontman Acerbus. It’s frankly a shame this lineup wouldn’t last beyond this album, because everything seemed to work: from the band’s chemistry, to their synergy with their producer, Necromorbus and their songwriting.
This album is the band’s manifesto of devil and death worship, and their mastery of dread-inducing atmosphere reaches new heights, as songs like “Revelations of Another Time” and “I Kristi Skugga” feature instrumental breaks and codas where the band indulges in pure ambiance to elicit terror and fear. While an instrumental track like “Akilkarsa” shows the band flexing their riffs and mastery of tempo, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the closer, “Witch,”—a funeral march of a song that’s slow and plodding but by far the most disturbing track in the album, with unintelligible whispered vocals and an uncomfortably long silent outro that’s broken by an inhuman wailing. The track truly encapsulates the absolute horror of this album.
Arisen from the Ashes (2010)
Nabemih.
As stated before, frontman Acerbus often said that his band was cursed; the early aughts were a very prolific period for the band, and by 2005 they had released a definitive opus to their name. However, for whatever reason, the lineup disintegrated, and Acerbus had to assemble a lineup in order to start playing live; however, no lineup ever stuck, and there were myriad known and unknown names of the contemporary Swedish black metal scene, including edge-lord extraordinaire, Niklas Kvarforth from Shining, who also originally released the band’s EP and debut.
For the next half decade the band would soldier on, with only new bassist Avsky sticking around. The band’s co-founder Nabemih returned (not on drums though) in 2007, and Valkyrja guitarist (and current Marduk live bassist) Simon Wizén was recruited in 2008. By 2009 the band finally returned to Necromorbus Studio with session drummer Jocke Wallgren (currently with Amon Amarth) and producer Tore Stjerna to record their next LP. While they succeeded in recording their third album, by all accounts, the curse of Ondskapt was still afflicting the band, and whatever transpired during the recording was said to be absolute hell. By the spring 2010 release of Arisen from the Ashes (fitting title BTW), Nabemih was gone again, and for good, and so was Avsky, and neither have been heard from ever since.
Ondskapt, 2010
Acerbus and Wizén assembled yet another lineup that would keep changing for the rest of the 2010s. With so much apparent hardship, was the band at least able to channel so much abject negativity and upheaval into music? The answer is yes, kinda? To be clear, Arisen from the Ashes is a good album, and the band, despite behind-the-scenes dysfunction and turmoil, are still playing to their strengths, all things considered. However, unlike the long-winding compositions of the debut, or the distilled near-perfection of the sophomore, this album is a bit more standard. 8 songs, and one of them is an intro track—there’s definitely less ambition, for lack of a better term.
Ondskapt, 2010 – 2015.
Again, the material is good and by this point the band have fully honed their sound and style. The album’s biggest strength in its stripped back approach is how the band’s signature, funereal atmospherics are now fully integrated into their songs; while this record’s length is shorter than the preceding albums, that doesn’t mean the songs are shorter—the individual song lengths clock between 4 and 7 minutes, and the band still packs a lot within every song. The tone of the record is also more aggressive, between the discordant stanzas and funeral dirges, Simon Wizén’s guitarwork is the biggest standout, and his presence and overall contribution to the music adds a thrash metal dimension that wasn’t explored previously. Impressively, Wizén’s riffs and contributions perfectly blend into Ondskapt’s dark insanity.
Overall there is a sense of progression and a change of pace, albeit within the band’s own context, and with a much more refined sense of focus. However, I still can’t shake the feeling of wanting more from this album, and the knowledge of how dysfunctional the band reportedly was at the time, it’s almost a miracle that they were able to deliver a cohesive and straightforward album, and it’s kinda disturbing that music this dark and desolate would leave me wanting more.
Grimoire Ordo Devus (2020)
After the harrowing making of the previous album, the band went full force with live shows, and their rotating door lineup continued to be a running theme. Ny the late 2010’s Acerbus was hungry for a new album, and he once again assembled a lineup to do it, bringing in members of fellow Swedish black metal band, Dys Inbunden, with Gefandi Ör Andlät on bass and Draugr on guitar, alongside drummer Daemonum Subeunt, this was the lineup that would get into the studio in 2017… or so everyone and the band thought. By 2019, Draugr was out and Acerbus replaced him with one Joel Lindholm, aka J. Megiddo, and if that name sounds familiar, that’s because he’s the former Marduk bassist who got caught in 4K drunkenly sieg heiling at Incineration Festival in 2023, and was later booted from the band (and apparently had his bass tracks removed from the album they released that year, which… damn). Granted when that happened not only was Megiddo out of Ondskapt, the band had already ended, but we’ll get to that.
Ondskapt, 2020.
In 2019 the band finally went to Wing Studios, and with producer Sverker Widgren, they spent the year working on what became Grimoire Ordo Devus though it wouldn’t be released until late 2020. Considering the decade-long time gap between G.O.D. and Arisen from the Ashes and with a completely different lineup other than Acerbus, things were bound to sound a lot different, and they did. The album opens with an ominous intro that samples the ending of Robert Eggers’ 2015 masterpiece “The Witch”, i.e. a Witches’ Sabbath, and after it ends, the album begins in full.
I previously wrote a very positive review about this album when it came out and my main observation was how this was by far Ondskapt’s most metallic record, and I still stand by that. The recording lineup really flexes here, and all the songs are sprawling epics with overwhelming speed and force; however—and this is a testament at how singular this band was—despite a hard pivot into pure metal after 3 albums of satanic dirges, they still have their essence and sense of atmosphere intact. In the same way the previous record incorporated the atmospheres with the songs, G.O.D. does so as well, although the songwriting is much more layered and complex.
That’s one thing to note, this album is the band’s longest, and with the benefit of hindsight now that Ondskapt has been laid to rest, it does feel like the band put all of their ideas and ran with them for this record.
Photo by NecrosHorns, 2021.
Even sampling Eggers’ The Witch comes back with a full sample of a character’s death on the track “Possession.” Overall this is a stuffed record, and on a more technical level every single member is giving it their all. Sverker Widgren’s production is one of those rare cases of a clean production doing wonders for black metal, as one of the best aspects of the album is hearing all the instruments and each individual member’s flair. And of course, the man who kept this machine running for just over 2 decades, Acerbus. His vocals remained consistent from beginning to end, and I’d dare say he’s one of the best modern black metal vocalists, and is also one of the few disciples of Dead who truly inherited his essence and spirit. On this record he delivered some of his best performances, honoring the dead past, while making his own definitive statement, and the album ends with a sample, another piece by Alfred Schnittke, which portents an ending as it once began.
Sadly, despite the promise of new music during one of Acerbus’ last interviews in 2021, mentioning yet another lineup shakeup (this time bringing the members of Swedish doom metal band, Anguish) and a return to the stage in Germany (for the last time), the band would cease to be.
Photo by NecrosHorns, 2023.
In May 31st, 2023, Acerbus posted on the band’s official Facebook profile that the band was no more: no explanation by design, zero preamble, just like that. Over. The final nail in the coffin and the definitive proof was when all the band’s social media profiles were nuked from existence. I’ve frequently mentioned throughout this retrospective how the band was said to be cursed, how members came and went for almost 2 decades, and how the making of each album was a near Sisyphean endeavor that took as much from the band as they were willing to give. I personally do not subscribe to the idea that to make art is to suffer, but it cannot be denied that each album Ondskapt made was a moment of great trial and upheaval, captured on record and put out for the select few who partake in the darkest music. I don’t know what Acerbus and even Nabemih are doing now, but their music has stuck with me ever since I discovered them, and will probably remain with me ’til the day I die.
