Another Swiss band who sort of 'paved' the ways of extreme metal (hmm who could the other one(s) be?) by being plain old-fashioned black. Fusing German death thrash ("Morbid Metal"), Sabbath style drawn out and doomy guitar riffs, Bathory style (occasional speed and) vocals, and an obvious influence from their fellow countrymen, Samael mixed all of this into a form of modern black metal. This is a good deal 'purer' than anything else they released after this (although the Alice Cooper cover song was great on 'Rebellion') but still the most influential (probably).

Killer EVIL modern vocals, a truly MORBID, FROSTY (ha) slow paced sound, and classic followed by classic track. My favorite version of the BRILLIANT "Into the Pentagram" track as well, without a doubt one of the best black metal songs EVER. And probably worth the price of whatever it costs you to track this down! Evil as it was meant to be (not cute, fluffy, pseudo-artistic, or 'developed' like every fudgepacker is attempting to do...hail close-minded metal cunts!).

© 1999 brand