One might easily dismiss this as being Burzumish black metal, and one might even rightfully do so, as granted do not really offer much innovation in their expression, but by that you would diminish the value of what is a brilliant offering, because not the originality of the expression, but the effect of it a good album makes. At first this didn't really grasp me much, but after more thorough listening the sinister flood came sneaking into my head, and the atmosphere captured on this album started to dawn on me, a very sick and perverse form of relentless anger, combined with a chilling sense of claustrophobia. Imagine yourself locked into a small room, the air is running out, it's getting hard to breathe, each breath become incresingly strangulating wielding a blade slashing out at the nothingness in the lunacy of near asphixiation, combined with the claustrophobic's worst nightmare, bouncing off the walls, eventually slicing yourself as you are the only living thing in the room and screaming out relentless hate. If you can envision this, then you know what Sortsind sounds like, because that is what you see when listening to them, and the merciless pounding of the drums to penetrate your skull doesn't make it easier to swallow, nor does the sickening necro vocal work. This is a gem that is bound to be grossly overlooked, due to their origin, and danish band's habit of only looking towards Denmark's little scene...

© 2000 sharund