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I picked this up at a merch booth at a show, just because it looked really, really underground, and it sure is. Fjord are a Canadian band firmly in the Absurd/Graveland school of NSBM, currently signed with the Totenkopf Propaganda label under the aegis of the Pagan Front. Some bands in this vein are excellent, while others (Wolfnacht, Wotenorden) are terrible. This is a short taste of what Fjord can do, but I have to put them in the 'excellent' pile.

The guitar tone here is a wonderful raw-edged blur that pounds out some killer Bathory-styled riffage, and the drums - though almost certainly artificial - stick to the primal war-drum attack and are sufficiently fuzzy to go with the rest of the music. Vocals are largely a low, clean-chanted style, and they help create and sustain the far-north atmosphere. That the band can actually manage atmosphere in seventeen minutes is a testament to their talents. This band is pretty fucking awesome, and I will be watching for a full-length album.