This shadowy Dutch band is the brainchild of solo member Erik Bleijenberg (also of underground doom project Uur) and like many projects from that country is much underrated by the faithful. A claim is made for pure black metal kinship yet on its third album here Verwoed plays a form of music often very close to ritualistic ambient, building up constantly as some dark entity is summoned. Opener A Prayer of Blood and Fire especially will carry you away to murky underground rooms where demonic deeds are being performed; strummed instruments and rhythmic percussion atop near-smothered chanting vocals, turning to snarls and electric riffs as the piece finishes. The title track seamlessly follows with a doomier, more metallic approach, instantly arresting your thoughts and hypnotising with a dancing melody before the vocal snarls begin to echo psychedelically.

And Bleijenberg doesn't really put a step wrong afterward, keeping the listener's attention focused as he tinkers with the atmospheric sound. The title track, for instance, dips into gothic rock at points without committing fully, preferring to remain in the realms of black metal and doom (fans will appreciate a comparison to The Ruins of Beverast, although Verwoed is less experimental). Interlude pieces like Seven Trumpets and A Choir of Null and Void extend the tension well, repeating melodies without growing dull or tiring, and serving as connective tissue between the longer tracks to make The Mother one long piece as a whole. The Child differs by being dissonant and chaotic at points, almost but not quite crossing into Deathspell Omega terrain, and later even turning proggy with a touch more eerie melody in an instrumental passage that is almost catchy and verges on the cinematic.

In contrast, The Madman's Dance is jagged and aggressive, moving from doom to grandiose blackened blasts and back, like a more interesting iteration of recent Shining. And the closing Death in a Rosary impresses most, slow and impactful with further psychedelic touches to make for a space rock feel, eventually returning to ritualistic strums to finish the ceremony. You can tell some kind of story is being woven here from the song titles but it's up to your imagination to fill in the large gaps, as it is to see shapes in that abstract cover art (by Joost Vervoort of Terzij de Horde). A terrific album, well-written and played, evocative and atmospheric in the best of ways, that stays with you long after it has finished. Hear (and purchase) the album at the band's Bandcamp above.