Black metal has proven to be a surprisingly nimble style of music, deftly avoiding any of several aesthetic and ideological dead ends. Indeed, there is a consistent flood of new, intriguing takes on the black metal template as the corpse-paint is taken up by legions of young enthusiasts. One-woman U.S. black metal powerhouse Hulder is a leading light amongst this horde.
After a string of highly coveted and lauded limited-release cassette demos, the project of Marliese Beeuwsaert hit the underground big time with last year’s Godslastering album on Iron Bonehead and the more recent The Eternal Fanfare on 20 Buck Spin. Both are stellar records of raw, cold, classic black metal not in the least concerned with mass accessibility, but with an instinctive knack for compelling riffs and song structure. Now Hulder is on her first U.S. tour with a full band, and expectations are very, very high. But then again, she’s got Satan on her side, so no sweat.
This article appears in It’s Been Five Years.