Dutch duo Doodswens plays an elemental sort of black metal, by turns vigorously engaged by the form’s kvlt rootedness in tradition (cold and raw) and simultaneously, rapturously open to contemporary atmospherics (grand and cathartic). So, it’s elemental in a double sense: sometimes reducing the music to base substances, and sometimes reaching toward the stars, from whence all elements come. The band’s new LP Lichtvrees commences with “In Mijn Bloed,” a song that concentrates on paying tribute to black metal’s Northern European orthodoxy. It’s a sensible move for a young band to make. Doodswens has been releasing music for only a couple years, and anyone who has paid even minimal attention to the kinds of chatter that circulate through the black metal underground knows the deep significance attached to terms like “ancient,” “primitive” and “reverence.” The twist? Doodswens comprises two young women, Fraukje van Burg, who plays guitar and sings, and Inge van der Zon, who provides percussion. Tradition?
To be sure, it’s nearing 2022, and Western culture has experienced a swing of the pendulum toward the feminine (we can and should debate the relative superficiality of that swing, since there is a real difference between what the Internet says and what the Supreme Court says; but the broader culture is fond of citing that pendulum’s sweep). Is it really necessary to note the band members’ sex? In this climate, it might seem patronizing, or worse, charged with a sort of sub-rosa wink and leer. Given black metal’s loyalty to old ways, we might note that some of its originary recordings included songs like “Werewolf, Semen and Blood,” “Bestial Lust (Bitch)” and “Chainsaw Gutsfuck.” Even though the young women in Doodswens don’t seem to be interested in making a lot of noise about, or cynically capitalizing on, the fact that they are indeed young women, the broader contexts, social and artistic, assert the fact’s significance.
But we should emphasize: The music is quite good. The song “Lichtvrees” is a strong example of what the band can create. A riff with drama, a tune with a pleasurable melody that van Burg’s resonant playing drapes with foreboding and fills with force; production that’s just rough enough, but also glistening with the crystalline tingle of blizzard-blown snow. It’ll redden your cheeks, and then it’ll freeze them solid. The writing and the playing both show real promise.
One hopes Doodswens will have the chance to build on that. But black metal acts play in an increasingly crowded field, with an audience that doesn’t exactly swell by the millions. So what’s a young band to do? Maybe not agree to tour with a bunch of self-important edgelords that have made a career out of playing peekaboo with National Socialist sympathies (and who once recorded a charming ditty called “Fistfucking God’s Planet”). Sure, a band has to build cred, and traveling on a bill topped by an internationally established act with buzz—however complicated, or sort of gross—will get you noticed. One wishes Doodswens would let the music do that work.
Album Review: Doodswens - Lichtvrees (Svart Records)
Future superstars of the black metal scene. That much is for sure based off this album.
Founded in Eindhoven in 2017 by Fraukje van Burg (vocals and guitar) and Inge van der Zon (drums), Doodswens initially erupted into the underground scene in 2019 with their demo.
Now, Svart Records is proud to unleash the debut album from Dutch female black metal duo Doodswens! “Lichtvrees” (translation: fear of light) will be unveiled to the world on the 3rd of December 2021.
A hellacious…
