Countess
The Revenge Of The Horned One Part 1
[Barbarian Wrath]
I respect few Black Metal bands more than Countess. This is a band that
has a long history of near-perfect metal under it's belt, and last
year's "The Shining Swords of Hate" has become one of my favorite albums
of all time. I was quite curious to see what paths Countess would tread
next - was this going to be more like Countess' older albums, or more
like "Shining Swords..."?
Amazingly, Orlok has managed to blend the two styles to create something
truly impressive. A lot of people didn't like the vocals on "Shining
Swords...", and they will be happy to know that the vocal style here is
closer to older Countess. However, the wonderfully thick, nasty, and
repetitive guitar style of that album has been retained and integrated
into shorter songs here. The result is a near-seamless combination of
the strongest features of both early Countess and "The Shining Swords of
Hate".
All in all, this is a flawless slab of Countess' own Orthodox
Black Metal. Any fan of the band should get this immediately, and those who
haven't discovered Countess yet have no excuse to miss it. I eagerly
await the second part of this
masterpiece.
Standout tracks: "A Battle in Darkness", "Hymn to the Gods of Yore",
"Triumph of Metal", "On Earth as it is in Hell"
© 2001 vorfeed