Countess
The Return of the Horned One
[Nazgul's Eyrie]
Believe me when I say Orlok can fucking SCREAM. Listen to "Fire & Blood" as it builds up. Not many people can wail like Mr. Orlok. Truly disturbing! "The Return of the Horned One" is the obvious return of Countess on CD after their "Gospel" album. They continue down the paths of Hellhammer meets Burzum, with additional psychedelic influences. The solos and keyboards on "The Return…" are the main cause of this. They can sound rather twisted at times…
Listen to "Ritual of the 7 Priests" for example. You'd think Orlok would be leading into a Bathory galloping assault with that drum intro…but he does quite the opposite. That riff! It's like something out of an old horror or sci-fi movie circa the early 80s. Good and haunting, while maintaining that free from modern feel. I can listen to this song over and over and over just because it is SO dark.
There is lots of Bathory on this album too, and not just the photos which were taken in Miss Erzebeth's lair. The acoustic intro to "Bloed in de Sneeuw" for example, or the down moving "chug-a-chug-a" of 2nd to 3rd album Bathory at the start of "Aleidis". Unlike some of the earlier material though, Orlok fucks around with leads and solos a lot, obviously going for a style of his own, instead of the "Hellhammer worshipper" tag he's gotten in the past. Maybe a little bit on some of the riffs on "A Cry of Hope Forever Gone", but it's really all his own on this CD…
And that makes the recording even more unique. VERY low-fi, a true lack of technical skill, but the sheer hate of the vocals and twisted, black nature of the music will have some people really enjoying this album. If you haven't been desensitized as of yet though, I'd make an effort of avoiding this. Everyone else will know what to ask for during their next special order though: Countess of course!
© 2000 brand
Listen to "Ritual of the 7 Priests" for example. You'd think Orlok would be leading into a Bathory galloping assault with that drum intro…but he does quite the opposite. That riff! It's like something out of an old horror or sci-fi movie circa the early 80s. Good and haunting, while maintaining that free from modern feel. I can listen to this song over and over and over just because it is SO dark.
There is lots of Bathory on this album too, and not just the photos which were taken in Miss Erzebeth's lair. The acoustic intro to "Bloed in de Sneeuw" for example, or the down moving "chug-a-chug-a" of 2nd to 3rd album Bathory at the start of "Aleidis". Unlike some of the earlier material though, Orlok fucks around with leads and solos a lot, obviously going for a style of his own, instead of the "Hellhammer worshipper" tag he's gotten in the past. Maybe a little bit on some of the riffs on "A Cry of Hope Forever Gone", but it's really all his own on this CD…
And that makes the recording even more unique. VERY low-fi, a true lack of technical skill, but the sheer hate of the vocals and twisted, black nature of the music will have some people really enjoying this album. If you haven't been desensitized as of yet though, I'd make an effort of avoiding this. Everyone else will know what to ask for during their next special order though: Countess of course!
© 2000 brand