There’s something gloriously unfiltered about Gjenferd and their second album Black Smoke Rising. It feels less like a modern release and more like stumbling upon a dusty crate in the back of some forgotten record shop, pulling out a mysterious LP from 1971, and realizing within seconds that you’ve struck gold. Warm tube amps humming, Hammond organ swirling through clouds of smoke, guitars drenched in blues and psychedelia — this thing absolutely lives and breathes the spirit of the golden age of hard rock.
The self-titled debut from 2024 already showed that these Norwegian retro-rock disciples knew exactly how to channel the ghosts of Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, early Sabbath, and Led Zeppelin without sounding like a lazy copycat act. But Black Smoke Rising takes everything that worked on that record and pushes it further. The songwriting is sharper, the atmosphere deeper, the production warmer and heavier without losing that beautifully rough-edged analog charm.
Right from the opening moments of “Crimson Rain,” Gjenferd hit the gas pedal hard. The guitar and Hammond organ duel like they were born to live together forever, while the rhythm section drives the whole thing forward with serious muscle and groove. And honestly, the amount of joy pouring out of this band is infectious. You can hear four musicians completely locked into the same cosmic frequency.
“Bound To Fall” keeps the momentum rolling with swirling psychedelic textures, killer bass lines, and another eruption of glorious organ work from Jakob Særvoll, whose keyboard playing is basically one long love letter to the early 70s. Meanwhile, Vegard Bachmann Strand’s guitar tone cuts through everything with fuzzy blues-rock perfection.
The title track “Black Smoke” sounds like some lost proto-metal anthem unearthed from another timeline — heavy riffs, eerie melodies, and vocal harmonies that somehow make the whole thing ridiculously catchy. That’s one of Gjenferd’s biggest strengths: even when they get dark, gloomy, or doom-laden, the melodies never stop pulling you in.
And when the band slows things down, they become even more impressive. “Calling Your Name” drifts through melancholic, cosmic atmospheres with soft vocals and haunting flute passages that feel straight out of an old progressive rock dream. The short interlude “Attergangar” gently bridges the album into its second half before “The Thrill” stomps in like Leslie West joining Deep Purple for a late-night Zeppelin jam somewhere deep underground.
By the time “Ride On” and the epic closer “Spread Like Wildfire” arrive, Gjenferd are completely untouchable. Psychedelic, emotional, massive in scope — these tracks don’t just recreate the past, they make it feel alive again.
What makes Black Smoke Rising so special is that it never feels forced or nostalgic for the sake of nostalgia. This isn’t cosplay rock. It’s a band deeply in love with the roots of heavy music, channeling that passion into songs overflowing with warmth, groove, melody, and soul. For anyone craving vintage hard rock with real heart and absolutely killer Hammond organ, this record is pure magic. Early contender for hard rock album of the year? Absolutely.
-Helge Neumann
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