SUPERVILLAIN OUTCAST

"Roll up, Roll up, Come see the oddities, Unaltered beasts, Or the girl who swallowed knives, The invisible cannibal, The strangest foe of all time, ...For your own very eyes, Come see the freaks, Come see the freaks, Children made of raw meat, Shark mouths of blazing impurity, Down in the dumps, Down in the doldrums, Where only the [%*!#]ed up, Forage for their forms"

"Nervous twitches at 2AM, In a bed of cracked ribs, Jerking off in a circus of secrets, Pressure sweating you slowly insane, We all become new fanged Gods, To old for regret, To ill for death, I trust myself and no one else, I drink to your bad health, Like the carrion fiend, At a blessed feast, The bones you were born with, Yearn to be seen, An imperfect fake with the same name, Searching for language, Of an inner being"

The above lyrics are the opening verses from track 8 called Unaltered Beast from DHG(Dødheimsgard) fourth album Supervillain Outcast. The lyrics are here to give you a picture of how twisted DHG are and how excitingly dark and brutal. Dødheimsgard´s last album 666 International which was released in 1999 was one of the most groundbreaking experimental extreme metal albums ever to come out of Norwey ( or anywhere in the world) and it had to be a very hard album to follow up. DHG has done just that with Supervillain Outcast though and with style I must add. Allthough Supervillain Outcast isn´t as groundbreaking as 666 International it´s still one of the best experimental extreme metal albums I have ever heard. It´s taken DHG 8 years before they where ready to make Supervillain Outcast and that´s a pretty long album break, but the time has been used wisely.

It is said here that Czral ( Ved Buens Ende, Virus) plays the drums on Supervillain Outcast like he did on 666 International and it´s right even though shortly after recording the drums for this album he was badly injured falling from a building which means that he is now paralyzed in his feet. On the bands myspace D´arn is credited as DHG´s new drummer.

The music on Supervillain Outcast is primarely black and death metal influenced, but there are influences from genres like Industrial metal, Gothic metal, new wave and avant garde as well which makes this album diverse and unique. Consider yourself warned when I tell you that this is not for the faint of heart as this is extremely aggressive and brutal music. The difference between this album and more primitive death/ black albums is that Supervillain Outcast is sophisticated and cleverly composed.

The vocal style on Supervillain Outcast has to be mentioned too as it is very diverse. You have both deep growling, more aggressive raspy growling, clean vocals and a capella choir arrangements. The first time I listened to Supervillain Outcast the interplay between the deep growling vocals and the aggressive raspy ones reminded me of good old Carcass the way they sounded on Necroticism - Descanting of the Insalibrious. Dødheimsgard has many more tricks up their sleeve though and you can´t accuse them of being a carcass clone. New vocalist Kvohst who has replaced Aldrahn does a great job. He is exactly the kind of new blood Dødheimsgard needed to make a new groundbreaking release. According to DHG´s myspace he has sadly left the band.

There are some truly excellent songs on Supervillain Outcast. My favorites are the fast-paced Vendetta Assassin and Supervillain Serum. Note the porn sample in Supervillain Serum. Pure genious. But besides the experimental black/ death metal songs there are also three a capella songs ( Secret Identity, Chrome Balaclava, Cellar Door) which are nice breaks from the general madness of the album. They work the same way as the horror theme piano pieces did on 666 International. A few other songs stick out and that is Apocalypticism which almost touches Marilyn Manson and goth rock territory, the last song 21st Century Devil which are more mid-paced and epic than what we are used to from Dødheimsgard and All is not Self which touches New Wave territory. All these diversions from the form means that this is a very exciting album all the way through without ever being confusing or inconsistent. All songs has Dødheimsgard written all over them. No one makes music like them. They are a truly unique force.

The musicianship is excellent. I´ve mentioned and praised Kvohst for his diverse vocal range, but the drums on this album are also great and of course main composer and guitarist Vicotnik also has to be mentioned for his adventurous way of thinking music. The programming and samples that are used throughout the album is very well done as well and adds greatly to the atmosphere of the songs.

The production is one of the best metal productions I have ever heard. That´s how good I think it is. The sound is grand when it has to be and closed thight when that is nesseccary. Yusaf Parvez is credited for the production which is Vicotnik´s real name. The man is a genious in my opinion.

This is without a doubt one of the best experimental extreme metal albums I have ever heard. Twisted, dark and brutal yet sophisticated enough to deservedly appear on Prog Archives. I cannot recommend this album enough and it´s one of the most deserved 5 stars that I will ever give. MASTERPIECE.

Dødheimsgard (which roughly translates into something like 'Mansion of Death') is one of the most underrated Black Metal bands in history. Their work is very avant-garde and experimental... and extremely progressive within the (often quite narrow-minded and conservative) Black Metal genre.

The sound of this album is a mixture of Electronic Industrial and Black Metal, but it's much more organic sounding than their previous album, which i consider a bad thing in this case. I loved the extremely anti-human and mechanical feeling of '666 International'. 'Supervillain Outcast' has a more natural sound, especially with the mostly acoustic drums. The drummer is very good and turns in an amazing performance on every track... but i'd much prefer they return to their unrelenting, cyberblasting, electronic drum sounds.

They haven't totally lost their raging, robotic, post-apocalyptic edge... this album is filled with harsh alien noises and bizarre samples. Nightmarish sounds abound: distorted voices of wounded animals howl in 'Horrorizon' over furious blastbeats... while the hopeless wailing of lost souls can be heard buried in the murk of 'Foe X Foe'.

My favorite track is the most un-Metal on the entire album... 'All Is Not Self' is a lethargic depressive Darkwave anthem. Moaning suicidal vocals languidly drift over abyssic layers of downcast clean guitars and electronic percussion. It's very gloomy and trance-inducing; it produces a totally surreal form of melancholy.

Another depressive favorite: '21st Century Devil' features an excellent Moog-like synth lead in 5/4 timing over dark flowing rivers of distorted guitar and hoarse demonic vocals... and finally an Industrial-style beat in the middle as well.

This is very good material for the most part, but I like '666 International' better. The new vocalist is not quite as engaging as the previous one, and the music sounds overall more streamlined and common... less insane. This is only when compared to their previous work, though, because this album is still lightyears beyond the typical run-of-the-mill Black Metal band.

There is enough unique and interesting music here to merit a hearty recommendation to all open-minded Extreme Prog Metal fans.

Right now I'm tired, my stomach is filled with fish and I've just taken my drugs (medicine, no illegal bull[&*!#]). I believe this was the state in which Dodheimsgard composed Supervillain Outcast. The 8 years that had passed since 1999 till 2007 weren't spent in vain. The band, which as I acknowledge had just formed a new line-up, was fresh and fill with new ideas. The result was beyond anything anyone would have expected of them. 666 International had already marked the new tendency in Dodheimsgard's music but it was Supervillain outcast that carved in stone the new approach. Rooted in the classical black metal, Dodheimsgard cut out many of the raw non-sense and add many electronia (idm, electro-industrial) elements to a harsh but clear melody provided by the guitars, bass and drums. But do not think that what they play is conventional. They are by far experimental with many aggressive songs that are infected with sick industrial samples and factory noise while the vocals oscillate from brutal to clean. The clean vocals keep away from general standards and create innovative melodies that unfortunately do not always give a good impression. However, for the sake of avant-garde, they ruin music at some points like in the song All Is Not Self. Additionally, the lead guitar needs to be credited for making some noisy yet melodic music. Sometimes the second guitar stops playing putting emphasis on the main one.

The best tracks on this record are Vendetta Assassin, The Snuff Dreams Are Made of (really, this one blacks out my mind), Apocalypticism (truly scratches your brains) and 21st Century Devil (a dynamic way of ending a very good album).

To sum up, Dodheimsgard is now not your friendly everyday (pseudo)satanist black metal act like most other extreme metal groups from Norway. They are mature, creative and even complex although NOT in a sense related to PROGRESSIVE ROCK. Nonetheless, this boosts up my expectations for the upcoming release that hopefully will not take eight years to appear.

'Supervillain Outcast' - Dodheimsgard (9/10)

On Dodheimsgard's third record '666 International', this once-orthodox Norwegian black metal band revolutionized their sound by adding a challenging layer of experimental electronics and industrial influence. As rocky a listen as it was, the inventiveness of that record is as alive today as it was when it first came out. Naturally, now that Dodheimsgard had turned black metal on its side, they would be expected to explore this new idea further, and that's exactly what happens with 'Supervillain Outcast'. In effect, Dodheimsgard refines their style into something that feels much more realized and intense than they sounded earlier before. The industrial element of their sound has been extended far beyond a gimmick, now only serves to add to the bleak atmosphere that the music creates. It still has its roots in the straightforwad black metal that Dodheimsgard once played, but 'Supervillain Outcast' stands as being one of the most challenging metal albums I have ever listened to.

It is not often to hear Darkthrone-esque black metal propped up against avant-electronica and something I might only be inclined to call Satanic dance pop. Just as '666 International' was, 'Supervillain Outcast' is a diverse, multi-faceted work, and for any who have heard '666 International' before and could not find anything to love, this one may not be any better. That being said, there have been some stark improvements in the way Dodheimsgard executes their sound. The production is given a much livelier tone, and while variety is ey to what the band does here, the music flows comfortably from one avant-garde nightmare to the next. Kvohst takes his place as the new vocalist for the band, and his performance really adds to the feel of the music, both in regards to his growls, and a clean, eerie croon, not too unlike Vicotnik's performance with Ved Buens Ende. The lyrics here are vividly powerful, often using sick, often disturbing metaphors to convey the imagery. Suffice to say, it very much reflects the distorted, deranged sound of the music.

Musically, Dodheimsgard's sound is incredibly chaotic, and certainly jarring to hear upon the first listen. Although there are some more traditional vocal melodies and harmonies to help balance out the more aggressive aspects of 'Supervillain Outcast', listeners can expect to hear a flurry of all things strange, eerie and wonderful, with sounds being drawn from circus music, dark ambient, and even porn samples, to name a few. On that note, the strength of this album lies greatly in the experimental nature and avant-garde approach that the band takes, and as a result, the more traditional black metal elements of the band often don't feel quite as powerful on their own as they would have outside of this context. 'Supervillain Outcast' may grind against a listener's taste at first, but there is a vulgar genius at work that surprises and bewilders me. '666 International' showed the vast potential of this band, but they take the sound and make it real with 'Supervillain Outcast'.

3.5 I say.

I was very interested to hear Dodheimsgard. Originally, I've heard of their existence through Czral's blog (Czral is the guitarist/vocalist of Virus, and plays drums in Dodheimsgard.). As I read about them, it sounded like the story of many of today's avant-garde black metal bands. Started out as a fairly traditional sounding black metal band, and have dramatically changed their sound as time went by into a more unorthodox matter. With Dodheimsgard (which means "mansion of death" in Norwegian- very kvlt), it was the inclusion of electronics and the somewhat industrial flavor of the music which has divided Dodheimsgard sound from the others.

And indeed, DHG (short for Dodheimsgard) don't really sound like any other band. While the electronic effect isn't the most dominant in the album, it is usually constituted in the background and fills up the empty pockets of sound which are left by the surprisingly crunchy and precise guitar distortion. These guitars are what make this album rather industrial-metal-sounding. It's a little off putting at first. To be honest I wasn't a fan of the guitar's sound in the beginning, but once you sort of understand their grand scheme in the album, and their ability to mesh with the electronics, you learn to appreciate their purpose and enjoy their presence. This isn't your typical black metal. It is undoubtedly an attempt to tackle the genre- which all of the musicians in the band are long time participants of. The traces of black metal are definitely obvious, particularly in Czral's massive blast beats (this is before the tragic fall which has unfortunately left Czral without the ability to use his legs. Yes a bit of a Robert Wyatt story I agree), and moreover, Kvohst's banshee vocals, along with screams and croons, which I'm a big fan of (It is his vocals in Code's "Resplendent Grotesque" which make that album one of my favorite black metal albums).

The sound elements are rather important in making this album interesting, because the songwriting here can be a bit of a mixed bag for me. While most songs here are good, many are great, some can be a bit dull and there's one that in my eyes falls a bit flat. There's a good amount of variety in the album, and so at least it's almost always interesting, but at times the songwriting is a bit too... for lack of a better word, normal. A bit of a verse-chorus- verse affair at times, unfortunately. This works fine when there's a good balance of electronics with the music. The trouble is that there are a few songs where I'd wish there'd be more electronics, more to chew on. More essence. This is felt particularly in a song like "Apocalypticism". It is a rather, straightforward affair. It is on OK song, but even when the elements of electronics come in, they aren't enough to make the song really grab my attention.

One of the stronger elements of the album, though, are the excellent a-capella interludes. These short affairs are beautifully arranged and layered Gregorian sounding ditties. You can hear Kvohst's excellent croon hear and it is delightful and these interludes serve as nice breaks in between the constant metal going around. Not to say that most of the metal isn't enjoyable, because most of it is crushingly intense, and usually there is enough going on to get make you concentrate on the muzak. Songs like "Vendetta Assassin", and "Ghostforce Soul Constrictor" are loud, precise, and powerful examples of what this group can do at their best. They are songs that present the successful merge of intense, extreme metal, with electronic music, and all around this works great.

I can't say I loved it all, but at its best, "Supervillain Outcast" showed a very promising vision of what DHG's future albums might incorporate. While the songwriting needs some work, these guys show enough creativity and integrity to make this album worthwhile, but it's still a bit of a disappointment. I look forward for future releases, in hope DHG will get a better balance of the elements that make them a very interesting project.

Dødheimsgard advance the experiments in crossing over industrial metal and black metal they began on 666 International on Supervillain Outcast, an album on the other side of the balance. Whereas 666 International felt like industrialised black metal - in the sense that it had a black metal base with industrial influences - Supervillain Outcast feels to me more like blackened industrial metal, in that it has an industrial metal base and black metal influences.

At points, the band bring in a more accessible, even poppier sound, but they manage to make this work brilliantly - the album's more commercial moments sound like Marilyn Manson would sound had his voice not deteriorated and had he retained his grasp of the zeitgeist rather than sidelining himself into increasing irrelevance.

Four full albums in from beginning as a rather ordinary second wave black metal outfit and DØDHEIMSGARD perfected their blackened industrial avant-garde metal sound on SUPERVILLAIN OUTCAST which was introduced on their EP "Satanic Art" and further developed on "666 International." Many changes took place since the last album with the most obvious being that the band shortened their name to DHG and a huge lineup change left almost a completely new band with the only founding member Vicotnik left on his guitar, samples and programming duties. Vocalist Aldrahn left the band and was replaced by Kvohst. The bass baton was passed from Apollyon to Clandestine and Mr Magic Logic's keyboards were dismissed while the other members picked up different secondary instrumental duties. Czral went from official percussionist to the unofficial "additional personnel." With all this dystopia rocking the band's world i would expect the music to sound completely different but despite it all, the music sounds exactly like the next logical step of development in the avant-garde musical world that DØDHEIMSGARD had been leading up to. Only this one is done right. Perfectly so.

SUPERVILLAIN OUTCAST begins with a short intro that makes me think of Chinese music from the 30s or something with the instrumental "Dushman" but violently bursts into black metal fury on "Vendatta Assassin" for a few measures with progressive touches of time signature freak outs and then jumps into the heavily caffeinated industrial metal sound with heavy bass and drums leading the fury and the guitars adding jittery licks at hyper speed all the while Kvohst delivers shouted vocals that are somewhat blackened but he also mixes up his vox box with death growls and whispered industrial sounding utterings. Generally speaking many of the tracks are garnished with heavy black metal riffing that alternate with industrial metal types of power chord riffing while ambient keyboards create eerie howling in the background with heavy percussive blastbeats dominating the rhythmic section and a hyperactive bass interaction to match. There is much attention paid to sound effects and electronic noises and textures to add a whole other dimension behind the metal sounds. Vocals vary quite a bit when not in extreme metal mode. There are several passages with chanting and clean vocals that steer the music into progressive metal territory.

In addition to the majority of hyper-extreme tracks there are a few that stand out from the general feel of the album. "Secret Identity" is a short a cappella track that sounds like monks chanting in some far away monastery and like many of the metal tracks has a slight trace of dissonance. The following "The Vile Delinquents" is full-on industrial metal with choppy industrial riffs and heavy electronica sound effects before erupting into more heavy guitar riffing. "Apocalypticism" sound more alternative metal and reminds me a lot of the track "Caffeine" from Faith No More's "Angel Dust" especially in the vocal phrasing department but also has a cool guitar tone and techno like percussion. "Chrome Balaclava" is another a cappella track with several voices harmonizing wordless utterings while an intermittent shaky thing adds a little percussion. "All Is Not Self" is probably the most out-of-place sounding track on SUPERVILLAIN OUTCAST. This one sounds like a big beat techno track with vocals that reminds me of Richard Butler from The Psychedelic Furs! The electro-beat is heavy with background vocals providing ghostly haunting sounds. The fury returns on the next track and then another a cappella type shorty with "Cellar Door."

SUPERVILLAIN OUTCAST is an outstanding album for many reasons. Firstly it is the pinnacle of the avant-garde industrial black metal sound that DØDHEIMSGARD had been perfecting and all the new musicians pull if off beautifully. Secondly the production is also perfect as every little sound is allowed space to be heard and the instruments have their own role within a larger context that create a complete band sound. Another successful strategy is the focus on the extreme avant-garde metal with little serene fillers that punctuate the frenetic nature of the album and to top it off the compositions are just perfectly catchy with super aggressive hooks and electronic embellishments to add layers of counterpoint creating a mesmerizing contrast with the dominant guitar riff focus. The black metal is perfectly balanced with the industrial and the avant-garde is used as a supplement instead of getting into territory too strange for the uninitiated listener. Personally this is one of those albums that made a huge impact the first time i ever heard it and still holds up after many listens. What could you call this? I'm not sure but think Ulver's first album mixed with some Ministry and maybe even some Prodigy and you're getting close.