Rating: 8/10
Release: 2 December 2022
Label: Heidens Hart Records

Fans of their last album, 2018’s “De Roep van het Woud” (“The Call of the Woods”) will be quite pleased with “Voorbij de Nevelen des Tijds” (“Beyond the Mists of Time”). This really feels like the next step in Theudho’s evolution. It’s more focused: less deviation from the sounds where they really excel, and more energy. If you’re new to them (well, him– this is a one-person affair), it’s a great time to be alive and get started.
Theudho’s sound is darkened metal with growly vocals and a fierce focus on rhythm. This is a band that forgoes niceties like verses and refrains. The drumming is impeccable and really keeps everything moving forward. The vocals are owerful, understandable, and earthy-themed (apparently, based on a translator).
The opening notes have a mirky, dark, epic vibe. Distortion is up, and the vocals are lurking waiting to eviscerate the listener. The first three tracks blend together really well with the second being slightly faster to shake the listener up a bit. Then, after De Zwaardgod– no translation needed, that’s an awesome song name– the album starts to change a little, and “Schimmen onder een Maanloze Hemel” (“Shadows Under a Moonless Sky”) is easily the best track of the album. It opens like the first track with less overdrive, adds all the good parts of the first three tracks and some rhythm guitars, and then ends with some tasteful keyboard chords on top of all of the rest.
After that slice of epic pie, the next few tracks fall back into this album’s groove: driving rhythm, distortion guitars, and the fingerprint of the latter part of the album is notably more power metal lead guitar riffs at about the three-quarter mark of each track. “Geheiligd door Voortekenen” (“Sanctified by Omens”) is a strange, little thirty-second outlier. Unfortunately, for fans of the folkier-side of folk metal, this is your proper dose of non-guitar this album. It’s like coming up for a breath of air before hitting the final two tracks, which are equally strong and aligned with the second-half mood.
This is a very solid album, probably their best to date. Some of the variety found in previous albums is lacking, but I’m really liking the consistency and focus on the sounds that really work for them. As 2022 was a step up from 2018, I’m excited to hear what the future holds.

Tracklist

1. Getooid met de krans des doods 05:58
2. Ruiters van het Rijnland 06:09
3. De zwaardgod 04:27
4. Sicamber 06:32
5. Schimmen onder een maanloze hemel 04:43
6. Tomben van eeuwig ijs 05:40
7. Hoog in de dode woudreus 05:17
8. Geheiligd door voortekenen 00:25 instrumental
9. Met vuur en staal 04:48
10. Noodlot 04:40