After covering 2020s Old Old Death back in 2020, I missed 2023s Fandens Skall, Tulus’s 4th effort since reforming in 2007, after the band’s successful  Khold offshoot.

As I stated in my review of Old Old Death, Tulus and Khold are/were essentially interchangeable in terms of sound and style; simple, cold, riff driven Norweigian black metal, mostly mid-paced, methodical, and free from fluff or other distracting elements.

But some research tells me that Tulus, both before and after reunitng did indeed dabble with some more experimental elements, appearing to leave the simple groovier riffs to the Khold side of the house. And while I didn’t hear those elements on Old Old Death, it appears they are resurfacing on Morbid Desires.

That’s not to say this is some sort of avant-garde black metal, but it certainly sounds more adventurous than I recall Old Old Death being, which was admittedly my only exposure to Tulus at the time.

Morbid Desires certainly still leans into that groovy Dark Throne/ Khold stomp for the most part (“Skabb”, “Kistemed”, raucous “Vanvidd”, “Skauånd”), but there are definitely a few more things thrown in here; the Ulver debut/Garm-ish styled vocals and the flamenco injection of opener “Salme II”, the rock ‘n’ roll/heavy metal styled “Tulus”, the folk rollick of “Hedengangen”, which could be Finntroll without the moutharp and humpa elements, the surprisingly introspective and moody “Fossegrimens Vakt” and the stoner metal-y, 8 minute closer “Sabbat”, and its trippy harmonica section.

But I can’t say that’s why I want to listen to Tulus. And the same reason I DID want to listen to Khold– those cold, hard repetitive riffs, and those moments that make Morbid Desires worth listening to, as they focus on riffs, nothing more.

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