US black metal act Hulder to release second LP ‘Verses In Oath’ in February 2024

The hauntingly grandiose new HULDER album Verses In Oath, created during the dreariest cold months of the Northwest Winter, constitutes the most majestic, untamed manifestation thus far in the band’s journey of conquest, as new territory is put to flame and conquered by sword and shield.

Following a series of demos, EPs, singles, and the 2021 debut LP Godslastering: Hymns Of A Forlorn Peasantry, a pivotal 2022 saw HULDER release The Eternal Fanfare, a five-song mini-album, marking a new phase in the project’s rapid development. Further to HULDER’s auditory ascendency, the band set the live stage ablaze, touring widely in North America throughout the year and into 2023, which brought them to European shores for the first time as well. Spurred on by these noble victories, the ground was prepared for the immensity of Verses In Oath.

The ancient sorrow-filled melancholy and seething spirit that are the essence of “Hearken The End” permeate the entire album, by now a fundamental detail in HULDER’s identity where roots run deep in long forgotten soil. And whilst the slashing cruelty and torn flesh of “Vessel Of Suffering” and “Enchanted Steel” embrace a predatory barbarism, it is the joining of all those elements that places Verses In Oath in the timeless pantheon of black metal’s most strident lineage.

While black metal has evolved into myriad offshoots and subgenres to the point of incomprehension, HULDER is resolutely steeped in the genre’s destructive preeminence, rituals, and traditions, carrying the torch of its origins and heritage. And still Verses In Oath astonishes with the malevolent spirit of creative autonomy and individual freedom essential to reach the genre’s exalted heights.

Verses In Oath was tracked by HULDER in the Northwest – the drums recorded at The Underworld Studios and all other audio recorded at De Pestkerk Studios – and the mix and master were entrusted to cult legend Ahti Kortelainen of Tico Tico Studios in Finland, whose overwhelming list of credits stretch back decades to include Barathrum, Belial, Impaled Nazarene, and Moonsorrow, among countless others. The result is both unsparingly savage and wistfully evocative; black blood on white snow. The record was completed with photography by Liana Rakijian, illustrations by Mfaxii, logo by D. Andersson, and layout by Dan Fried.

The first single from HULDER’s Verses In Oath, “Vessel Of Suffering,” is now streaming at YouTube HERE and Bandcamp HERE.

Verses In Oath will be released on LP, CD, MC, and digital platforms on February 9th. Find preorders and merch at the 20 Buck Spin webshop HERE and Bandcamp HERE. HULDER is prime for fans of Aeternus, Ancient, Satyricon, Hades, Enslaved, Warmoon Lord, Moonsorrow, and Tsjuder.

Having been featured on the cover of Decibel Magazine in late 2022, HULDER will embark on the Decibel Magazine Tour of the US with labelmates Worm, as well as Devil Master and Necrofier. Presented by 20 Buck Spin, and sponsored by Pull The Plug Patches, Relapse Records, Night Shift Merch, Hell’s Heroes, and Magnanimous Brewing, the tour will run from February 21st through March 18th.

HULDER states,

“It is an honor to be given the opportunity to headline the 2024 Decibel Tour. The band will be playing a strong setlist with a number of twists and turns throughout and I am looking forward to this new chapter in the journey of HULDER’s live performance. I can only imagine that being joined by our brothers in Devil Master, Worm, and Necrofier will be nothing but a display of power and force. We shall carry the torch of the old guard and blaze a pathway for the new era.”

See all confirmed dates below and stand by for additional HULDER announcements to post in the weeks ahead.

The Decibel Magazine Tour 2024 w/ Hulder, Worm, Devil Master, Necrofier [TICKETS]:

HULDER:
Hulder — Guitars, Vocals, Synth
Necreon — Bass
CK — Drum