Review by Jeger
Wrang – Verwording
Record Label: Dominance of Darkness Records
Year: 2026
Rating: 8.5/10
Life’s journey is as unpredictable as the shifting tides, and it’s upon life’s restless seas where one learns the meaning of desperation and defiance. To leave it all behind for the search; not to wander but never to settle nonetheless. Final destination? A casket. Beyond that? Who knows? And it’s the fear of the unknown that drives us onward as we search evermore fervently as the years pass. Soak in as much as you can and never stop long enough to give the inevitable a lasting thought. And so the Demiurge grins…
The Netherlands’ Wrang formed in 2013. The duo has released two LPs with their third, “Verwording”, scheduled to drop on April 24 via Dominance of Darkness Records. Thematically, their records pertain to abstract concepts that detail life and the human condition. Like that ship on the cover of the album as it tosses and turns are we all. Chance left to the wind yet somehow confident as we boldly traverse the enormous swells. In such the way as the ship is Captained, so too is every bold composition, every seething passage by Wrang during intrepid album cuts like “Stilstand” and how it unfolds to such urgency, that desperation again just powering it all forward upon forceful melodies and driving rhythms – a controlled, masterfully executed cacophony of Black Metal as created by genuine craftsmen.
Wrang
Think Norway, only more melodic and nuanced, like if Mayhem learned how to play Black Metal like our friends over in Iceland. High energy parts give way to soothing melodies. Aggressive, segmented cadences drive forward a myriad of varying riff techniques from tremolos to chugs and fluid currents of distorted energy. Bass shakes the earth beneath! The atmosphere is electric like a lightning chain that cracks the night sky and just radiating static through the blackened azure. And then we have “Voor ons de zee”… A mid-tempo’d, almost Doom-like cut that oozes cool and easy Black & Roll vibes and is slathered with rich melodious parts that serve to sweeten the experience even more.
“Verwording” was not recorded in a basement. It took a team of guest musicians and technicians to realize this album, so its glaring-at-the-surface sound is intentional and appreciated by myself at least. Wrang have not broken any ground here, nor have they done anything all that classic. This album can be found somewhere in the midst of the two and this is refreshing. The last thing we need is yet another early Second Wave carbon copy. Influentially, you’ll experience Taake, Horna and Watain-like sound/energy, but akin to their late ‘90’s – early 2000’s output.
Searching further now, with more intent, a little more direction, but still ultimately at the will of the sea, at the will of fate and of death. Black Metal for contemplation and for the moment. Seize yours now! Board ship and prepare to voyage into the great unknown by way of the most precious Dark Art of true Black Metal. Through memories of the past into dreams of the future! The uncertainty of life awaits. Tell me now, would you have it any other way?