I’ve had this album for so long but I cannot remember how, why or
exactly when I picked it up. I’m guessing I bought it back in the late
90s, perhaps I read about it on some message board or someone
mentioned it on irc (ask your parents). What I do remember is the
dense murky sound which aesthetically fit nicely with the shrouded
figures in the band pictures. Now this sound can also be seen as
perhaps the weakest piece as especially the guitars tend to get
muddled in the mix, and at times it almost sounds like some songs
where recorded at different times because the sound between the songs
which at times is a bit distracting. With that caveat out of the way
this is still an incredibly enjoyable album of mostly fast paced
ferocious blackmetal. The multilayered vocals shifting from hissing to
growls to barks is especially well done, the riffs are melodic but
understated, and when there are leads they tend to be deeply buried so
this never threatens to be a saccharine black metal by any stretch of
the imagination. A highly recommended album if you’ve not heard it,
while the original is not available anymore they did release a 15th
anniversary re-issue back in 2011 and the only difference is that the
30 minute outro was cut (and you’re not missing anything as it’s 26
minutes of ambient noise followed by 3 minutes of actual music).
Nazxul
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