This is the second part in Shamaatae's four part epic series, a disc I was really looking forward to after hearing the excellent "Fran Marder". Packaging is good, similar to "Fran Marder" yet in black and silver for all those requiring some effort put into their CD booklet purchases. The album starts out with a strange intro, just Shamaatae screaming over various sound effects but quickly blasts into what fan's of Arckanum know and love. The first thing that came to my mind here is the production. "Kostogher" is nicely produced (all instruments can be clearly heard, yet still sound buzzing and raw), the music is louder than on "Fran Marder" yet it has been mixed in such a way that you really have to turn your stereo up to get a good earful. As an example, listen to this album and then put any other CD in...the other CD will probably break your speakers. Anyways, the first song (Skoghens Minnen Doekks if I've read that properly) is simply amazing. Great vocals, fast as fuck, tight drumming....and some of the best clean singing I've heard on a BM album. The clean singing (yes singing not mindless chanting) is excellent, it's flows very nicely, adding an excellent new layer to an already great song. Adding violins (I think) a few female vocals, and a few moments where guitar riffs are allowed to stand without the other instruments makes for pure excellence. Without a doubt one of my favorite tracks this year. The rest of this album follows this path. Most of it blasts the whole way through, yet just like "Fran Marder" works and flows as if it were one track. A well done instrumental track is also thrown into the mix, yet it retains enough flavour to not just add to the rest of the album, but also be listenable (whhhhoooooo....). An excellent album, surprisingly better than the first, which makes me yearn for the next full-length. Raw, straight forward black metal, and one of the finest in the genre.

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