Since it is being reissued, this album demands a revisit, which is fortunate because as metal casts around for a direction, Solitvdo present one option with their carefully-structured formalized style which periodically uses synthesized horns to present a martial and elegant front.

Black metal formed itself of atmosphere, but it did not reject the structuralism of death metal, only used it as a means to an end of telling stories through the contrast and prismatic repetition of riffs in different contexts. Solitvdo extend that into a format more like the martial music of nationalist regimes.

While this EP shows less development of this style than their art deco covered masterpiece Hegemonikon, it provides an insight into where that style connects with the range of black metal between Impaled Nazarene and Immortal, a rigid assertion of nature against inflexible human desires, judgments, and emotions.

Tags: Black Metal, solitvdo, War Metal