Bandcamp There is a bitter joke in the title. Dejlig er Jorden is a beloved Danish hymn, “Beautiful is the Earth,” and Heksproces hand it to you as the name of a record about the world ending, the burning figure on the cover making the irony plain. The Copenhagen band, whose name means “witch trial” and who label their own sound “rødvinsmetal,” red-wine metal, play a long-form post/black/doom rooted in the pervasive apocalypse of the moment: tech oligarchs, climate collapse, accelerating inequality, the sense that order is coming apart. Formed in 2021 and Wacken Metal Battle Denmark finalists, they arrive with a debut that is ambitious in both scale and subject, six tracks with two past the ten-minute mark.
The writing lives in the contrast between hush and devastation, and the production mostly serves it well. “Masker Glemmer,” nearly twelve minutes, is the clearest case, holding a real dynamic span between intimate acoustic passages and dense metal surges without the mastering flattening it, the arrangement earning its length. “Lys Formørker” makes a clean transition from an airy, spacious intro to a wall of sound while leaving the drum transients room to hit, and the short instrumental “Inden” is the most transparent thing here, a differentiated mid-gain overdrive with a knurled, precise bass. Guest touches, Jonas Lorentzen’s throat singing and William Frøland’s flute, deepen the ritual, apocalyptic mood without tipping into gimmick. When Heksproces let the quiet stretch before the storm, the payoff is genuine.
The reservation is a recurring crowding in the low mids, the price of tuning this low and layering this densely. On the title track and “Solen Synker” the down-tuned rhythm guitars and bass pile up around 200 to 400 Hz, and the densest passages lose a little transient punch and clarity as the mastering pushes near its ceiling. “Struber Messer” has a massive low-end foundation but the bass gets somewhat buried under the riff wall in the heaviest stretches. None of it is fatal, and the band’s dynamic instincts keep pulling the mix back open, but a little more separation down low would let the crushing sections crush as cleanly as the quiet ones breathe.
Dejlig er Jorden is an ambitious, atmospheric, seriously intentioned debut that treats post-metal as a vehicle for real dread rather than just texture, and it mostly delivers on that scale. The long-form writing has patience and architecture, the apocalyptic concept is delivered with weight and a grim wit, and the dynamic range is a real asset. Fans of the Cult of Luna, Amenra and Wiegedood axis, especially where post-metal darkens toward black, will find a lot to sink into here. It is held back only by a low end that occasionally over-crowds. A promising, heavy first statement from a scene worth watching.
Long-form apocalyptic post/black/doom that lives in the contrast between hush and devastation. “Masker Glemmer,” nearly twelve minutes, holds a real dynamic span between intimate acoustic passages and dense metal surges without the mastering flattening it. “Lys Formørker” transitions cleanly from an airy spacious intro to a wall of sound while leaving the drum transients room to hit, and the short instrumental “Inden” is the most transparent, a differentiated mid-gain overdrive with a knurled precise bass. Guest throat singing and flute deepen the ritual mood without gimmick. The reservation is recurring low-mid crowding: on the title track and “Solen Synker” the down-tuned guitars and bass pile up around 200 to 400 Hz and the densest passages lose transient punch as the master pushes near its ceiling, while “Struber Messer” buries the bass under the riff wall in the heaviest stretches. The band’s dynamic instincts keep pulling the mix back open. Ambitious and atmospheric, held back only by an occasionally over-crowded low end.
Standout tracks: Masker Glemmer, Lys Formørker, Inden
