All great stories are accompanied by a great soundtrack, and such is the case of Beenkerver’s De Rode Weduwe in telling the story of Sophia, the red widow. In this story, she deals with abuse, witchcraft, revenge and remorse. From the 90s Black Metal sound to the fast-paced riffs that are characteristic of Beenkerver’s music, this is him at his finest, creating a story that gives a female character a leading and heroic role. Thus, if you enjoy great storytelling with well-crafted Black Metal, let’s join Sophia and Beenkerver into this journey.
Beenkerver (“bone carver” in Dutch) is Niels Riethorst’s Black Metal one-man project. Coming from the Netherlands, he was part of several bands in the Dutch scene, one of which was Plaagdrager, which I highly recommend, if you haven’t listened to it. Beenkerver was born as an outlet for a way to look inwards and let those inner emotions surface and transform them into music while writing his lyrics in Dutch, his native language. He self-released his first album Ontaard and afterwards he was signed to Vendetta Records and later, released physical copies of the aforementioned record. With Vendetta, he later released the Twee Wolven EP which sees his sound starting to evolve and define what Beenkerver is about, amazing Black Metal accompanied by a concept or story that binds it all in a perfect way. De Rode Weduwe to me, is his most ambitious project to date and it absolutely delivers.
This is a fictional story created for this album, divided into seven tracks and these are all chapters of the red widow’s storyline. Drums on this album are performed by Joris Nijenhuis (Atrocity, Leaves Eyes) and the artwork was made by Belgian artist Bram Bruyneel. The first track on De Rode Weduwe is the title track, which starts with a bone chilling scream and immediately goes into these fantastic chilling riffs and blasting drums. Niels’ vocals bring this story to life, with a ferocious delivery. All of the elements on this first track give you a peek into Sophia’s story and a taste of what’s to come in regards to the sound. The second track, ”Breng Mij Haar Hoofd” (“Bring Me Her Head”), is my personal favourite and has this slow groove and wailing guitars at the start only to increase the pace with the relentless double drum and tremolos that come to a halt with beautiful riffs, just to suck you back into the heaviness and darkness. You can definitely sense the sadness in this track. Next is ”Vel Over Been” (“Skin and Bones”), which brings back the fury and the fast paced riffs that, as I have mentioned before, have become very characteristic of Beenkerver’s music. ”Vergane Rozen” (Faded Roses) has this almost ballad-like pace to it, bringing De Rode Weduwe to a nice middle plain. In this track, Floor Vandenbrande (Neroth) makes a vocal guest appearance which brings Sophia to life, with amazing harmonies that blend into the song’s pace; Niels’ vocals also bring a strong contrast to it, making it such a beautiful track. The following tracks, ”Haar Wraak Is Prachtig” (“Her Revenge Is Beautiful”) and ”Oktober” prove my point as to how Beenkerver’s sound has evolved since his previous recordings, which are also really good. However, this album is a sound-defining one, which solidifies. You can almost feel the rage and fire of Sophia’s revenge and how it goes from being the hunted to the hunter and avenger. The last track on this album is ”De Biecht Van Een Blinde” (“The Confession Of A Blind Man”) brings the record to a magnificent conclusion, and one such a great album simply deserves. The riffs in this song are masterfully executed and you can sense some type of longing and melancholy.
With De Rode Weduwe we got to experience Sophia’s story, one full of darkness and inspired by Dutch folklore. This also proves that regardless of the language, the feeling and story behind it can be understood and experienced in full. You can definitely feel the music, how it manages to bring the story to life, and how Sophia transforms into a hunted, hero and legend in her own right. Niels has not just created a great story line, but an album that has transformed and defined Beenkerver’s sound and made De Rode Weduwe a record definitely not to miss.
