From Bandcamp, "With "...by the word...," TRELLDOM are pushing forward hard into their new musical era that was ushered in by the previous full-length "...by the shadows..." which ended a 17-year hiatus of the Norwegian band. Mastermind Kristian Eivind Espedal aka Gaahl and his diligently selected collaborators have gone even beyond the complex yet sinister sound that they established with "...by the shadows..." The exponentially grown confidence and hard-gained experience of joining together seemingly quite different musicians is reflected clearly in each track of "...by the word...". TRELLDOM have concluded the process of escaping the narrowest definition of black metal without compromising their artistic mission. Their music does not only stay loyal to the spirit of their black metal roots, but the Norwegians are making a solid point that their new sound is even more dark and fierce than ever before – just in more twisted and unhinged ways."

The album has seven songs, and "When This Was Young" is first. It enters slowly, and with a lot of darkness and dissonance. I feel like I am just waking from a dream, unsure of my footing. Vocals join the fray, and the song seems to leave earth for the reaches of the stars. "I Speak Forgotten Voices" comes with saxophone notes, but they are just as dirty as the rest of the instrumentation. This is definitely some Progressive Black metal in the phrasing, pacing, and even meter shifting, and the band paints a horrid landscape of death and destruction. Sinister is too innocuous of a word to describe the album so far…it's more like an unwanted trip into the bowels of the earth. "This Moment the Life of a Memory" has more traditional Black Metal elements…at least, the aggressiveness. It still progresses to strange and unusual places however, and this is an album that you have to take slowly so you don't miss anything. It's like Black Metal and Jazz mated.

"By the Word" is another mysterious offering, and listening to the album, I am enthralled as to where things might be headed. It's a slab of dark, contentious, and strange sounds that get into your head and color your vision. "Folding the Mind" enters with an energetic drum beat, and back comes the blackness that spreads like shadows. It has a ritualistic sound to it, as if you are witnessing things you shouldn't be, and these images will never leave your mind. "The World Chose to Vanish" is like something out of a post-apocalyptic word…things you might see following years of nuclear winter. The band uses space and ambiance so well, and some of the cooler tones in the music provide you with a false sense of security. Bass notes carry the song forward as if it's hell bent on a moon beam.

"In There Outside" closes the album, and it brings a measure of regret with it. It seems to teeter in both worlds…light and darkness…yet it refuses to commit to one or the other. In fact, the longer in plays, the more light is snuffed out. This album burrows into darkness, dragging the listener through corridors that feel untouched and unsettling. There's a sense of venturing beyond familiar emotional terrain, into spaces that feel isolating, suffocating, and strangely vast all at once. It feels exploratory in its bleakness, as if the band is deliberately pushing past the edges of where most would turn back, mapping out regions of despair and unease that feel rarely, if ever, visited. Twisted and unhinged, you say? Beyond any doubt.