Trolldom bring the idea of “taking your time” to extremity, having apparently been incepted in 2004 yet waiting just under 20 years to release their debut albums in 2022. Yes, “albums” plural: two LPs dropped on the same day whose combined duration of around 90 minutes could charitably be said to make up for the extended silence beforehand. Perhaps the reason it took so long is that Trolldom’s only member, Swartadauþuz, is in approximately 30 different musical acts—around half of which are also solo gigs—and even the mystic black metal powers of darkness and other worlds have their limit when it comes to the pace at which one can release music.1 He’s joined by session musicians for drums, vocals, bass, and MOAR keyboard who help realise this next venture. Luckily, fans didn’t have to wait another two decades to hear Tronen, but what does this recent increase in activity signify, and is it worth the wait at all?
Trolldom continues to play a synth-heavy brand of meloblack following the path that originated with the likes of Emperor, specifically down the branch also occupied by Inherits the Void, Uada, and Frozen Dawn. It’s trve second-wave, but the overtly positive, almost light-hearted feel lifts Tronen out of the misanthropies of yore to something less harsh; the production is also much better. Upbeat tempos lead zigzagging tremolos up and down scales, accompanied by the roaring ‘yahhhhhh’s of classical black wave screams. Synths often take the lead melody, with guitars shadowing or supporting, but otherwise fill most of the space with a familiar warm shimmer. Even when going all-out, the music is measured and endearingly straightforward—the kind of thing that any fan of the style could throw on to satisfy a general craving for it. But this reliability of Tronen’s can easily turn from a boon to a blight.
Tronen contains plenty of riffs, but without varied or strong melodies, they start to feel empty. This is a problem for a melodic black metal album, where riffs stand or fall on the calibre and memorability of the airs they carry. One doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel, but there must be a degree of forward momentum generated by the combined speeds of guitar and drums. Trolldom start in a good position in this regard, opening duo “Tidens Evighet” and “Dräpt ur Dunkel” featuring dopamine-charged interplays of chiming synths and exuberant chord progressions as their central refrains, with the latter branching into a nice bit of atmospheric development with subtly resonant plucks and a tremolo fade-in. Both showcase the record’s most dynamic drumming and engagingly powerful vocal performances, and if things ended after the intro to track three, “I Völvans Spår,” I would only have positive things to say. But the album progresses, and as it does, the sense that Trolldom is recycling and repackaging the same few good tricks grows. While there follow fragments of that earlier brilliance—like nice drum fills (“Etter Falla…”) and clever layering of synth and tremolos to deepen an urgent melody (“Dödens Släkled Stiga”) it gets harder to appreciate them. There are only so many times one can hear the same scale repetition—perhaps shifted a note or so in either direction—for song after song (“Etter Falla…,” “Ulvarnas Kall,” “Dödens Släkled Stiga”) without losing interest.
Trolldom otherwise embellish their music with such palpable atmosphere and evident care that the safety with which they literally play things in the melody department is even more aggravating. Sporting a respectably high dynamic range and a balanced mix, the synths, screams, drums, and guitars of all pitches sound crisp and full, giving things the balance between sparkly and savage that synth-heavy meloblack needs. The vocal performance—courtesy of Thorn—is appropriately savage and melodramatic, with plenty of satisfyingly drawn-out screams (“Dräpt ur Dunkel,” “Dödens Släkled Stiga”), the use of keys expands the soundscape rather than cheapens it, and the percussion is—for the most part—animated and interesting. It’s well-made black metal, but it lacks distinction.
In small doses, particularly if of its greatest aspects, Tronen has the qualities of great meloblack. Maybe if I were in a particularly good mood, or if I hadn’t heard so much other black metal prior to now, it would appear to blaze brighter and hit harder than it does. Alas, Trolldom seems to be the result of a creative mind spread far too thin; trve and well-executed as it is.
Rating: Mixed
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Debemur Morti Productions
Website: Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: October 30th, 2026
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