Some black metal artists chase nostalgia. HULDER have spent the last few years proving that tradition can still feel dangerous.
The Pacific Northwest project has unveiled “View From Nemeton,” the first single and video from its upcoming third album, Verbolgen, due out August 7 via 20 Buck Spin in North America and Season Of Mist throughout the rest of the world.
If previous HULDER releases felt like opening a forgotten grimoire in a candlelit room, Verbolgen appears to widen the scope considerably without abandoning the project’s uncompromising spirit.
“View From Nemeton” immediately immerses listeners in HULDER’s familiar world of dense atmosphere, layered riffing, and ritualistic melancholy. The song explores a sacred meeting place between the living and the dead, building around repeated invocations of “Bone to Bone / Limb to Limb / Blood to Blood” before expanding into unexpected textures courtesy of hurdy-gurdy and keyboards.
The accompanying video, filmed on analog media in the forests of the Pacific Northwest by Liana Rakijian and HULDER, only amplifies the sense that you’re witnessing something less like a music video and more like a document recovered from another realm entirely.
Over the past several years, HULDER have quietly become one of black metal’s most distinctive modern voices. Emerging from the Pacific Northwest but deeply rooted in Northern European traditions, the project has earned a devoted following through its refusal to chase trends, polish away imperfections, or dilute its atmosphere for broader appeal.
On Verbolgen, that vision expands even further.
The album introduces additional collaborators, including hurdy-gurdy contributions from KELD (MAJESTIES, OBSEQUIAE, CELESTIIAL), while drumming duties are shared by VAPULA and VROLOK, whose résumé includes AETERNUS and GORGOROTH.
At 48 minutes in length, Verbolgen promises a substantial journey through spectral landscapes, ceremonial passages, and HULDER’s increasingly sophisticated songwriting.
And perhaps that’s what makes this release particularly exciting. HULDER no longer feel like an underground secret whispered among black metal devotees. Instead, the project is evolving into one of the genre’s most compelling contemporary voices—without sacrificing any of its darkness along the way.
This August, HULDER will also bring those songs to the stage as part of a formidable North American tour alongside DIMMU BORGIR, HYPOCRISY, and SUFFOCATION. That’s a lineup heavy enough to flatten a small mountain range.