Setherial
Nord...
[Napalm]


6 tracks, 45:24

Did you worship Emperor when "In The Nightside Eclipse" came out? Did "Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk" disappoint you? Do you think the word "pointless" should be replaced in dictionaries by "IX Equilibrium"? Don't deny it, I know you all do...

While it's easy being saddened by Emperors artistical downfall, Setherial (from Sweden) released the cure back in '95: "Nord" is the perfect and logical successor to "In The Nightside Eclipse". Everything just screams "Emperor!!!" on this CD. The drummer mimics Faust's style perfectly and even surpasses him in speed and complexity (chew on that Trym!), the vocals sound exactly like Ihsahn in his high-pitched shrieky style, the occasional spoken voice sounds the same, the synths are directly taken from the master tapes of ITNE, the riffs sound the same, the speedpicked guitar melodies sound the same, the breaks and progressions within the songs are the same, the production is the same, the mix is better - and best of all, the adrenaline levels are in the red and the band has more balls than a bowling alley. This is one pumped-up beast of an album, played with a savage ferocity even Emperor never had.

Of course there are some *slight* differences, it's a little more guitar based (and there's not a single weak riff, especially the opening riff of "Mörkrets Tid" *rips*) and the keyboards aren't as prominent as on ITNE. Setherial also has longer songs (two of them 12 and 14 minute monsters), and there's no "Inno A Satana" or "I Am The Black Wizards" on the album, but this is as close you can get to Emperor without covering their songs in the Grieghallen studios with the same equipment and mixer settings. Thus, "Nord" is a historical footnote and an artistically questionable ripoff, but at the same time a huge kick in the ass and highly enjoyable.

Sadly, after this album Setherial decided to focus on another band to rip off: Marduk. The resulting later albums were spiritless exercises in simple hyperspeed Black Metal. Luckily, we have "Nord" as their legacy...


© 2000 sybren