KOLD is here; this Danish black metal duo presents their debut, "Intet Mere Er," via the German record label VENDETTA RECORDS, released on the 3rd of March, 2023; the album depicts life's contrasting tales, from destructive cessation to blissful beginnings.

Opening the review with an album - an album where picking songs for discussion is unnecessary -soon as the listener presses that play button, where one is welcome to the opening piece "Vinden, Den Kalder Dit Navn" and the remaining four songs and an album that makes one "as if one is travelling through the frozen wilderness" - simultaneously KOLD takes the listener back in time with their music - "Intet Mere Er" leans on the traditional formulas of the second wave of black metal. With a constant eye for melodicity and rhythmic variation, KOLD draws from the classic elements from the 90s and unites them in a new interpretation, thus breathing new life into the barren and notoriously dark subgenre.

While KOLD hails from Denmark, one would think differently! The band's musical spectrum presents the listener's ears with this second-wave/90s traditional black metal, which captures the frozen landscapes, sorrowful climes and contrastive elements of life and depicts dramatic and abstract stories of the destructive nature of isolation, the gloomy backside of escapism as well as the fruits of life and the bliss of creation within their music.

At the same time, this forty-minute journey -- simultaneously, the track listing is short -but the long tracks make up the enjoyment of the release -again, the songs are long without being repetitive or dull -but one thing for sure is that "Intet Mere Er" truly captures the heart and ears of the listener with the delivery of some additional flavours of hearing (occasionally) post-black metal and echoes of depressive black metal with emphasised mood and atmosphere, all delivered and provided by the perfect art of instrumental craftsmanship, musicianship and composition/composing of the music/instruments, which has this feeling of being recorded within the walls of the wilderness (dense forest) and beneath an ancient crypt-thus capturing multiple perspectives and atmosphere with each piece (making each piece different in sound and frame of mind/ears) -again creating this frigid atmosphere and sound that's primitive (distorted) and lo-fi -whiles the instrumental consists of low-tremolo-whipping pickings and raw riffage of the guitar with a melody/melodic approach of frosted rhythms with sorrowful leads, drums strikes and pulsating blast-beats, vocals consist of howls which form a melting pot of valuable tools for painting a series of contrast-filled stories about life's fragile antics from end to beginning rages.

"Intet Mere Er," in my opinion, is perfection debut release, modern, fresh and draws back to classic black metal days of the nineties. At the same time, looking at the song runtimes, this should not put one off - (mentioned before) the songs are long, neither repetitive nor dull.

"Intet Mere Er" is for those who love their classic/traditional or raw-atmosphere black metal.<