In 2013, Ted Skjellum, aka Nocturno Culto, one half of the Norwegian band Darkthrone alongside drummer Fenriz, released a fantastic 4-track EP under the name Gift of Gods, which in my opinion received too little attention. Since then, nothing else has been released under this name, and I hope this was not a result of a lack of recognition. However, this may also have had something to do with the fact that Darkthrone had long since left the pure black metal path at that point, and the protagonist was able to continue exploring his love for traditional metal sounds with his main band; it's precisely these traditional metal sounds that Mr. Skjellum indulges in on this four-track, 25-minute EP in an almost masterful way.
Once again, to put this in context: in 2013, Darkthrone also released their album “The Underground Resistance,” which, like its predecessors, incorporated more traditional sounds and in some cases had little to do with the harsh black metal sounds of their early days (apart from their death metal debut “Soulside Journey”).
But let's get to the EP: The first track, “Enlightening Strikes,” is an awesome, riff-heavy, eight-minute heavy metal song that isn't all that different from some earlier and later tracks from Darkthrone's traditional phase, which I mentioned earlier. Very driving, with Ted's throaty vocals, as well as some tempo changes and playful elements, make the track interesting and varied. The tempo is completely slowed down, leading into a fantastic doom section with mystical, melodic, and hypnotic set elements. The second title track on the EP, “Receive,” is a purely instrumental piece, but it manages to avoid becoming boring, a shortcoming that purely instrumental music often has. Here, too, Skjellum can let loose with his riffs, although vocals would have been a nice addition to the piece. This is followed by “Looking for an Answer,” a cover version by the Swedish band Universe, which, at three and a half minutes, is by far the shortest track on this EP. In this respect, there isn't much room for frills here; this heavy rock tune gets straight to the point, complete with a great, catchy, melodic chorus. The final track, “Last Solstice,” is a rather solemn, quiet piece in which the tempo is sometimes slowed down completely to fish in very doom-laden waters. In my opinion, a little more variety and a few faster passages would have done the composition good.
All in all, however, this EP is definitely highly recommended for fans of traditional, somewhat obscure and eccentric sounds that are completely free of the cheesiness that tends to cling to some heavy metal releases, whether from the 80s or more recent (retro) offerings.
