From the opening of this cd, you can tell right away that you are going to be treated to a darker, faster, blacker, more chaotic version of Lux Occulta, and that it fucking is!!! But somehow still retaining all the atmosphere of old.. On this cd you can tell their death metal influences are being used more (but this is by NO means a bad thing, as it is with most black metal bands who incorporate death... keep in mind that I hate 99.999% of all death metal, so if I say its a good thing, it is) as theirs a lot of death-like riffs, while still retaining the black metal feel (the real feel, the hatred, anger, painful feel).. This cd is going to be fucking really hard to describe because of how fucking great it is... amazing beyond all belief.. must truely be heard to understand... Guitars, as said before, have more death metal influence this time round, drop tuned this time round, switching from heavy and fast as fuck, to originally played acoustic sections, to insane solos, and beyond.. amazing performance... Bass guitar is heard at all times, a welcomed addition to their sound, adding EVEN MORE depth (didn't think this was possible), and this guy can fucking play!! They even give him some solos and isolated sections at times, all working very well to fit the feel and the atmosphere of this album... Drumming is amazing as well, switching the paces of the music, showing he can blast with the best of them, while holding down the slow and mid paced sections just as well (if not better) than anyone out there... Keys are less prominent here than in past albums, and are used very strangely.. instead of being used to CREATE atmosphere, they are used to add feel to the music.. adding a dimesion of sheer strangeness and utter creepiness to the music.. a very awesome effect that must be heard to be understood.. Vocals are a bit more controlled than on past discs.. not controlled as though held back, but just shows that over time he has learned to make himself sound better.. the black shrieks are still the same, only more in key, and sounding better, the death growls are used a lot more, and are EXTREMELY effective, and a couple of spoken-like sections are here and there..... Well.. I'm gonna stop trying to describe this disc now.. this is a disc ANYONE who calls themselves a fan of metal should own... This surpases even the unbelievable Forever Alone Immortal (something I thought couldn't be done)... so buy this now, or forever be blown to pieces...

Appeal: Anyone who appreciates metal should be able to get into this.. not because its "easy listening".. just because this is THE album of metal.. if I could only listen to one cd for the rest of my life.. this would be it...

© 2001 niosrever