Norkh — Under Teargas Fire Review
Norkh, the German Black/Death Metal force, unleashed their second full-length release, Under Teargas Fire, on September 30th, 2025. The album was independently released in digital form, and issued through Bleeding Heart Nihilist Productions on CD, limited vinyl, and cassette.
Norkh, Under Teargas Fire Review: This review will evaluate every aspect of the album, from its intricate musical composition to its production. Our analysis will provide valuable insights to help you determine if this album is worth adding to your collection.
The First Three Sins, The Summary
The First Sin, The Strings/Keys: Guitars wield riffs like ritual blades — crust-scorched distortion, tremolo-picked fury, and dissonant chord clashes. The bass thunders with grit-caked low end, shadowing the guitar’s path and anchoring the chaos with subterranean weight. The Second Sin, The Vocals: Mid-range growls and piercing shrieks. The officiant’s voice leads through smoke and ruin — a dark priest guiding the rite with barked proclamations and spectral command. The Third Sin—The Percussions: The war drum of a scorched procession. Organic blasts, d-beat marches, and sudden tempo shifts shape the ceremonial flow — from siege to sorrow, each strike a ritual pulse.
The Fourth Sin, Overall Discussion
Opening: Ignition of the Hymnal Siege
When the listener hits play, the first hymn erupts. Chaos breaks free right away. Shelling out eight hymns, stretching over forty minutes. They pulse with the raw fire of ‘90s black metal. Death metal sharpness cuts in. Thrash edges bite hard. A hint of crust punk adds grit. Doom metal drags it down deep.
This album avoids simple speed blasts. It digs deeper. Under the punk rage and thrash explosions, a sad current flows. It chokes the air. This mood makes the whole thing echo in your mind long after.
Storm Rituals and Shadow Marches
Under Teargas Fire hits like a storm. Norkh delivers raw power. The sound stays clear but rough. No shiny studio tricks here. It feels alive, like a gig captured on tape. Your speakers crackle with old-school bite. Picture Mayhem‘s wild energy. Behemoth‘s heavy crush. Marduk‘s cold fury. The recording pulls you into a dim, wet room. Damp walls close in. Cold air bites. It grabs the music’s pure edge, no frills.
Some tracks slow the pace — “hymns likeThe Grey Old Ones.” Doom metal creeps in. Think Rotting Christ‘s dark haze. Tempos drop to build tension. Notes hang heavy, like fog over scorched ruins. It contrasts the fast attacks. Black metal often races, but here it breathes. Listeners might wonder why the speed changes. It keeps things fresh. No boredom sets in. The band uses this to mirror life’s ups and downs—fierce fights, then quiet despair.
Norkh’s devilmanship unleashes a composition that is tight, unholy, and raw — refusing to let go.
Steps’ Bladework and Vocal Benedictions
Guitarist and vocalist Steps wields the guitar like a scorched blade — distortion crusted thick, riffs driving with punk venom and blackened precision. Each tremolo burst cuts deep, each dissonant chord clashes like ritual steel. The black edges don’t just slice — they lacerate. At the time, the guitars alternate between warlike propulsion and eerie lamentation — especially on hymns like “White Queen.”
Steps’vocals snarl harsh in the mid-tones. Higher shrieks pierce now and then. Barks shout clear commands. They sit up front in the mix. No hiding back. These voices lead like a dark priest. They pull you through haze and wreck. Words cut the air. They chant doom, rally the lost. In black metal, vocals can drown easy. Here, they demand you listen. It ties the ritual tight.
Lånhäst Low Rumbles and Maacki’s Drumlit Path
Janne Lånhäst’s bass lines thrum thick and rough. A slight drive makes them growl. They shadow the guitars most times. But now and then, they dive low. Underground rumbles add punch. They hold the mess together. Weight builds in the slow marches. Like a ritual step, it grounds the wild ride. Maacki’s drums hit raw and real. No clean shine dulls them. It sounds like a live space—close and urgent. Blast beats tear through. D-beat pulses steady. Tempo shifts hit with sudden force. They shape the album’s flow. From attack waves to mournful drifts, the ceremony moves with ritual precision.
Black metal drums often blast non-stop, but here shifts add depth. It guides the ear like a heartbeat lost in fog.
Norkh’s tools on this record stay sharp and spare. They kill with focus. Rites feel honed to the bone.
The Forbidden Fruit of Pure Sound
In the end, “Under Teargas Fire” stands as a raw, forbidden fruit of art release. Forbidden tastes linger like ash on the tongue. No keys pad it out. No samples fake depth, and no soft breaks to fill the space. Pure tools drive it all. Relentless strings and skins forge the storm. Fans of raw metal will crave this. It revives 90s fire for today’s ears.
“Under Teargas Fire” never lets you breathe in its cloud of raging blasts and sinister grooves that make sure to leave every purist satisfied – and at the same time they introduce a haunting melancholia that was less prominent in the past, an extra layer of darkness that delivers a new level of lugubrious atmosphere to top off the experience.[Norkh]
Ritual Closure and the Final Benediction
As the final hymn fades, we offer ritual thanks to Norkh for granting passage into their latest release, “Under Teargas Fire.” The altar is set. The teargas winds stir. Now, we unveil the final three sins to seal the rite.
The Fifth Sin, The Memorabilia
For me, Norkh’s Under Teargas Five hits like a blast from the ’90s black metal scene. It skips all the fluff—no extra tracks or keyboard layers—just brutal, endless gloom that grips you tight. I drop the needle, and the sound swallows me whole; it sparks chaos in my head while everything outside fades into hazy fog and dim shapes. This album burns fierce and true, a raw escape that pulls you under without mercy.
The Sixth Sin, The Artwork
It mirrors the themes of the music: protest, suffocation, fury, and transcendence. It invites the listener not just to hear, but to witness.
The Seventh Sin, Disrelish
There is nothing to rebuke in the musical offerings of Under Teargas Fire. Each hymn strikes with purpose, each passage honed to the bone. The album stands as a testament to Norkh’s devilmanship — raw, unrelenting, and ceremonially pure. Thus, we seal this review with ritual clarity. Thus, we seal this review with ritual clarity. I offer my deepest thanks for your time in reading this scroll, and I urge you to explore the unholy craft of Norkh and the ceremonial catalogue of Bleeding Heart Nihilist Productions.
The Hymns
01. Under Teargas Fire
02. Liquid Sculptures
03. Unleashed Existence
04. White Queen
05. The Grey Old Ones
06. Aimless Swarm
07. Simplicity Of Men
08. Asset in Blood
Norkh
Maacki — Drums / Vocals
Steps — Vocals / Guitar
Janne Lånhäst — Bass