I didn't expect something so grim to come out of presumably nice, sunny place like Bulgaria. All those demented souls who regard bands like Darkthrone as way too progressive, melodic and downright commercial should consider this. "Through The Fight, I Ride" is a perfectly appropriate title for such a barbaric opus. This is the true sound of an archaic battle in its most primeval form. As raw as a corpse of a freshly slain enemy, Ork (led by Count Vassilium of Iudicium) take you through the very heart of combat, sweeping like a whirlwind through ten bloodthirsty hymns dedicated to warlust, black Armageddon, ancient warriors and forgotten victories.

The first half of the album is totally fucked-up. It cannot even be described as music of any sort. Wrathful screams and already muffled distant drums are drowned in a non-stop din, a constant noise-barrage of pulsating, boiling ancient hatred. The second half is more "accessible." You can actually differentiate some riff patterns, but don't even try to find any traces of melody because there are none.

If you are deluded enough to hope to extract any sort of enjoyment (besides masochism) out of this, you are up for an exhausting session of self-inflicted aural torture.

This is the kind of record you can use to scare the shit out of black metal neophytes who recently discovered their Cradle Of Filth and Dimmu Borgir albums.

Naturally, it will only appeal to the most hardened and orthodox warriors out there. And since you don't find too many of those these days, this release was limited to merely 333 copies.

© 2000 boris