Gideon's Horn - Triumphant Command (Northern Doom)
Beyond the obvious brilliance of injecting Jewish culture
into a subgenre that has, to put it very lightly, a ‘Nazi Problem’, Gideon’s Horn achieve far more than just a ‘fuck you’ to fascism a la Book of Sand. In fact, it would be a tragic error to view this project in
these terms alone; Judaism, after all, has far too long and storied a history
to be defined by its enemies.
Gideon’s Horn take their name from a powerful prophet who led
a small force to great victory, and this proud heritage shines in their
reinterpretation of medieval black metal (BM) – visually, lyrically,
instrumentally – through the Tanakh’s ancient histories. Triumphant Command isn’t
just another melodic BM album with a strong concept, either – there are plenty
of unusual twists, which exude irreverence for mainstream tropes. Deranged, slippery
vocals recall the unhinged vigour of fellow pre-capitalist anomaly Noble Dechet, while sinuous song-writing takes the music through satisfying yet
unconventional routes. In another parallel to the Quebecois acid-BM project,
the band utilise a wide timbral toolkit, albeit more judiciously. The opener
treats us to roughshod riffing, spelunking into dungeon-synth before re-surfacing
with a commanding solo; “קרן גדעון” anchors melodic klezmer excursions and
further electronic meddling with a determined heavy metal stomp; and in the
climactic closer mischievous woodwind interjections and wonked-out guitar
explorations work in tandem toward an impressive end. The dust never seems to
settle, nor do the ideas run dry.