Levi II

Terdor is a two – member band from the Netherlands, which exists since 2005 and they have released until today two EPs, two splits and three full length albums. Levi II is their third album, which was released on July of 2013 and it is the first release of the band that comes to my attention. Judging by the cover and the internal content of the booklet with the beautiful photos of landscapes, I was expecting to listen to epic, maybe pagan Black Metal something that is not true. The first of the four tracks that are contained in the album, begins with a melodic introduction played by the piano, peaceful and melancholic, without portending what is going to follow. In the forty minutes that the album lasts, the band unfolds its war – talent by presenting harsh, frozen, violent and more than anything else warlike Black Metal, clearly inspired by the Scandinavian scene.

The riffs mainly are of fast speed, harsh and frozen, tremolo riffs, but of course with the passages of medium and slow speed being present too, some of them heavy and harsh, else more atmospheric. The sound that Terdor puts out as also the style of their compositions is warlike and violent sometimes it reminds of Immortal, some other times of Marduk but it has the personal elements of the band and that makes the result very interesting. The tracks are long regarding their duration exemplified by the epic Levi II which last nineteen minutes. Despite their size, the tracks are very interesting and not tedious at all. The most important thing in order to achieve that is the structure of the tracks, with the changes in the riffing, in the speed and in the atmosphere they achieve not to tire the listener and to maintain his interest at the same level throughout the entire album.

Concerning the instruments, they are all played by Elshschappij Tovenaere, the composer of the band. Although that a member has played 7 & 6 string guitars, classic guitar, piano, 8 string bass and the drams, all the instruments are played flawlessly. The guitars have a harsh but clean sound and they put out the passion and the intensity of the compositions. The bass is clearly audible, it has beautiful lines and it fills the sound well. The drums mostly hold the pace but without lacking in powerful turnings, fast outbursts or technical moments. The piano is used only in introductions and passages, it doesn’t participate actively into the compositions, but there also has been done a very serious work. The vocals are harsh whispering Black Metal vocals, quite monotonous, without many changes, they become somehow tedious in some parts. The lyrics are contained in the booklet of the cd and in two tracks they are written in Dutch, while in the other two in English. The first song describes a historic event from France of 1720 and the second one pushes a husband to kill his wife. The first one was quite interesting while the second one somewhat naive.

In conclusion, I have to mention the very good production and mixture. All the instruments are audible and the sound is thick and solid. Levi II offers forty minutes of well – played and inspired, warlike Black Metal. The band has worked enough for its compositions and has achieved to deliver a quite good result. The band shows its passion for music and for sure its talent by creating compositions that on one hand they don’t hide the band’s influences but on the other hand they have a personal identity and character. Levi II is a quite good album and it worth to listen and buy it.