MARTRÖÐ – Retro 2025

Our 2025 retrospective continues with MARTRÖÐ and their first full-length and DMP debut "Draumsýnir eldsins". Over the past months, our series has revisited releases by BONG-RA, BLOOD ABSCISSION, MÜTTERLEIN, ANFAUGLIR, I.C.E., GODKILLER, and BLUT AUS NORD. The highly anticipated "Draumsýnir eldsins" brought the year to a close with a storming, unpredictable slice of hypnotic Icelandic/US Black Metal from members of WORMLUST, CHAOS MOON, SKÁPHE et al, and a cast of contributors.

MARTRÖÐ's remarkable debut refuses straightforward categorisation as it moves between harsh, densely layered Black Metal and disturbing Dark Ambience, using sudden shifts in tempi to create a nightmarish and disorientating netherworld.

H.V. reflects on the record:

"Draumsýnir Eldsins" took more out of us than we expected. It was a long and exacting process, and at times it felt like it would never settle into its final form. Finishing it was less a celebration and more like catharsis. We are proud that it exists."

Fans and press alike praised the album's visceral power and atmospheric density:

"Simply put - just let us drown in the fascinating pandemonium that is MARTRÖÐ." (Echoes & Dust)

"MARTRÖÐ has unleashed a spectral collection of masterfully executed Black Metal songs that form one terrifying grander vision. Prepare for the ritualistic slumber and nightmarish visions to present themselves to you…" (Nattskog)

"For some listeners this experimental approach will be fascinating, while for others it may appear chaotic, excessive, even paroxysmal. Yet perhaps this is precisely where the appeal of a work like "Draumsýnir eldsins" lies: a viscerally pure and extreme form of Art, an album that provokes immediate, contrasting, and intense reactions. One of the year's strongest late entries in the realm of Black Metal." (Metalitalia)

The artistic duo – A.P. (SKÁPHE) and H.V. (WORMLUST) – also shared their most-played albums of 2025 as a glimpse into the nature of their influences:

H.V.:

AUTOPSY "Mental Funeral"
EXTERIOR PALNET "Haragma II"
DEVIL DOLL "Elogibalus"
KING CRIMSON "Discipline"
TERRY RILEY "In C"
GLENN BRANCA "The Ascension"
WORLD MUSIC LIBRARY #5157 "Gobala by Jegog"
GORGUTS "Obscura"
KOSTNATĚNÍ "Přílišnost"
NEXION "Sundrung"

A.P.:

ELEMENTAL "Elemental"
ASGAROTH "Trapped in the Depths of Eve..."
WARLOGHE "Logos of All-That-Ends"
AND ALSO THE TREES "(Listen For) The Rag And Bone Man"
OPHIDIAN "Blackbox Kasamaan"
REVERORUM IB MALACHT "Martyrium Matrimonii : Sacrificium Christi"
KING CRIMSON "Three of a Perfect Pair"
SWERVEDRIVER "Raise"
DEAD CAN DANCE "Spleen and Ideal"
NIFELHEIM "Nifelheim"