Thursday 12 May 2022

Terzij De Horde - In One Of These, I Am Your Enemy


Labels: Consouling Sounds/Tartarus Records

Formats: Vinyl/CD/Tape/Digital

Release Date: 08 Apr 2022


Tracklist:


1. Cheiron

2. In One Of These, I Am Your Enemy

3. Precipice


This review comes a bit out of the blue. Dutch extreme metal/post-hardcore band Terzij De Horde were one of the first bands I covered on this blog (back in 2011 I think), when it was called Stay Ahead. I remember that it was a time when I was really digging down into different scenes and countries, and for some reason at the time The Netherlands really stood out. I picked up their first LP A Rage Of Rapture Against The Dying Of The Light shortly after discovering them and then they kind of fell off my radar. When their latest album dropped into my inbox, I immediately took notice. 


I’m a tad embarrassed that Terzij De Horde has been off my radar for so long and that after eleven years, I’m writing about them again. I should have been more on the ball. Their newest album’s opener ‘Cheiron’ is a blistering college of post and black metal, with both the instruments and vocals in top gear. Compared to the other two songs on In One Of These, I Am Your Enemy it’s short but it contains more impact that way, especially thanks to it’s mix of melody and extremity.


The album’s title track ‘In One Of These, I Am Your Enemy’ is unsurprisingly cut from the same cloth as ‘Cheiron’ but it’s filled with more post-metal textures. Eminently catchy early on, it bursts into a rabid black metal song around two minutes in. There are some great off-kilter flourishes with a more straightforward metal approach poking through at times too. It still beats me how five people can craft such a soundstage. The recording, mixing and mastering gives the whole thing a glowing sheen, which accentuates the atmosphere that Terzij De Horde put into the song, especially when they go in a more screamo/post-hardcore direction at it’s mid-point. There are slight Scandi elements to their sound here but I can’t pinpoint any comparisons.


Album closer ‘Precipice’ is an absolute masterpiece of post-metal/screamo early on. It’s mid-tempo opening minutes give way to more blackened madness, yet Terzij De Horde control it very well indeed. It’s that control that sets them apart for me and begs the question; after all this time, why aren’t they on a roster like that of Pelagic Records or Relapse Records even? They certainly wouldn’t be out of place in my opinion. There are so many twists and turns here, from the full-on black metal, to the atmospheric noise passages and the massive instrumental metal that follows it through to the song’s second half and overall conclusion. It’s mere presence is overpowering (in a good way). 


I don’t know what more I can say about this record, apart from that I’m absolutely floored by it. I’m gonna stick my neck out though and say that I definitely appreciate the two longer songs ‘In One Of These, I Am Your Enemy’ and ‘Precipice’ best, purely for how engrossing they are. The whole record though is fantastic.


FFO: Ash Borer, Underdark, A Storm Of Light, Wolves In The Throne Room & Wiegedood


You can stream the record and purchase it digitally or on CD (while stocks last), directly from Terzij De Horde below:-



Terzij De Horde - https://www.facebook.com/terzijdehorde


You can also buy physical copies from the labels below:-


Consouling Sounds - https://store.consouling.be/

Tartarus Records - https://shop.tartarusrecords.com/


Consouling Sounds - https://www.facebook.com/ConsoulingSounds

Tartarus Records - https://www.facebook.com/TartarusRecords

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