In terms of albums that suffered from hype, the comeback album from the newly-christened DHG was certainly under fire. A whole eight years after classic 666 International the mighty experimental machine that is Dødheimsgard returned with an almost entirely-new line-up, and released an album that had reactions ranging from “sheer genius!” to “it’s the Black Metal version of Slipknot!” As ever, the answer lies somewhere inbetween, but it’s interesting to consider that the only original member remaining in the band is Vicotnik. The line-up is completed by Den Saakaldte keyboardist Jormundgand, bassist Clandestine and guitarist Thrawn (both also of no-I’ve-not-heard-of-them-either Doom Metallers Paradigma) session drummer Czral (Aura Noir, Ved Buens Ende, Virus, etc) and vocalist Kvohst, best known for his time in Code, but soon to become a figure of hate from the Black Metal world for his performance on Supervillain Outcast. Putting it simply, aside from the occasional clean part, his vocals here are slightly monotonous, opting for a Death Metal-y snarl that is a far cry from Aldrahn’s majestic performances in the past. Yet it’s not a bad performance, far from it; Kvohst’s pseudo-growl gives a few of the songs here direction and purpose, and anything too complex may have screwed the album up completely.

Y’see, in order to arrive at Supervillian Outcast from the excellent 666 International, the only rational explanation is to have left Vicotnik in charge and allow him to take the ‘batshit’ elements of DHG into the stratosphere. Take the earlier album, make the Industrial elements the overriding factor, snip it up into four/five-minute pieces and give it all a comic-book style overlay, and you get Supervillain Outcast. However, this is far from a bad album; it’s just not quite an excellent one, and the difference between the two is so wide and vague that you have plenty of room for all shades of dissent inbetween. So how precisely does Supervillain Outcast fail to live up to expectations? Lack of atmosphere, for one, the twisted darkness of 666 International barely getting a look in. There’s plenty of twist of course, fear not, the meandering bludgeoning of The Snuff Dreams Are Made Of alone all over the place, and the creepy likes of acapella interlude Secret Identity are nice touches, but all in all a good few songs present are lacking in that certain something that made 666 International so great.

Yet even with my preference for its predecessor, Supervillain Outcast is still a great album in my book. Songwriting is pretty darn good, if not perfect, the likes of Vendetta Assassin and 21st Century Devil at once catchy and experimental, using the Industrial elements to great effect without losing that Post-Black heart that pumps at the centre of DHG. It’s impossible to deny the thought or work that has gone into this album, impossible to deny that it is a genuinely complex piece of music that will take a good few listens before you can honestly make a decision as to liking it or not. The sad truth about Industrial Metal is that the quality is far outweighed by the quantity, and even if you’re coming to Supervillain Outcast in disgust after their past works, from the point of view of an Industrial Metal fan this is excellent. Any fans of Fear Factory reading will find this quite a mindblowing experience, and if DHG were a new band then I’d be shouting their praise from that perspective alone. Alas, the band have history, and so whilst I fully recommend this album to the open-minded, fans of their earlier works should tread carefully.