Old Man's Child
Vermin

The Old Man's Child, are without a doubt one of the most interesting and important bands in melodic black metal.

This band is the result of the Norwegian Thomas Rune Andersen, better known as Galder, who also plays guitar in Dimmu Borgir.

Despite the "double commitments" with both bands, Galder has never missed a beat with Old Man's Child, but the most important thing is that the music of the latter has nothing to do with Dimmu Borgir.

The musical offering of Old Man's Child is fresh, original, full of ideas and inspirations, where many "bands" in the future could take inspiration from. In short, it is not the usual "reheated soup."

The album I am about to review is "Vermin", in my opinion one of the most interesting works along with the album "The Pagan Prosperity", another masterpiece of the band.

"Vermin" is a very direct album that hits you at the first listen, nothing 'pretentious' and manages to stir many emotions during the listening. The first track of the album is "Enslaved and Condemned" which immediately highlights the spirit, the darkness, and just the right dose of malignity that accompanies the entire album. Galder's growl seems to express anger, cruelty, and suffering, as well as being very biting and incisive. The keyboards are measured perfectly, everything works flawlessly and this is also thanks to the genius of this artist.

The album from an "emotional" point of view does not show any declines, as demonstrated by the subsequent tracks, perhaps it is one of those musical masterpieces, where you can listen to it even twice in a row, but you never get tired of letting yourself be involved and carried away by those notes, which once they take over your mind are like a drug.

Another interesting aspect of "Vermin" is the guitar arpeggios like in the track "Twilight Damnation" which after a few bell tolls, starts with an engaging charge, and here once again the keyboards are excellently balanced.

The album closes with a short instrumental track "...As Evil Descends" which is dark and haunting.

The advice I can give is to listen to it, for those who have not yet had the pleasure of taking this short and fascinating journey, into the virtual hell created by the mind of Thomas Rune Andersen.