Graveland
Creed of Iron
[No Colours]
Style: Imagine pre-Christian "Beowulf" set to a soundtrack. NSBM.
While many have tried, no other NSBM artist has been able to put out what Robert "Darken" Fudali does. Ever since "Thousand Swords", Darken has been churning out the most rousing, awe-inspiring, epic black metal mastery there is. Its a good thing Darken is a blatant racist and Nazi-sympathizer, or else this release may have brought him some serious mainstream attention. What we have here is lush, layered pagan metal, complete with bombastic guitar riffs, triumphant keyboards, and Capricornus' off time, though much improved, "Warriors on the March" drumming. The difference between this and the record before, "Immortal Pride", is that this is far more polished, clean, and cohesive. This may bother some people immediately. Just listening, you may not believe that this is one of the most hate-filled people within the black metal scene. The songs are about 10 minutes long each, except for the intro, and the album's one flaw is that Darken seems to be struggling to fill that 10 minutes from time to time. Besides that one thing, this is an excellent effort, and the more liberal-minded metal fans should ignore the band's beliefs and give this a listen, as this may appeal more to the fans of Opeth then Veles or Absurd. Which was probably not Darken's intention.
Grade: B+
© 2001 raagoonshinnaah
While many have tried, no other NSBM artist has been able to put out what Robert "Darken" Fudali does. Ever since "Thousand Swords", Darken has been churning out the most rousing, awe-inspiring, epic black metal mastery there is. Its a good thing Darken is a blatant racist and Nazi-sympathizer, or else this release may have brought him some serious mainstream attention. What we have here is lush, layered pagan metal, complete with bombastic guitar riffs, triumphant keyboards, and Capricornus' off time, though much improved, "Warriors on the March" drumming. The difference between this and the record before, "Immortal Pride", is that this is far more polished, clean, and cohesive. This may bother some people immediately. Just listening, you may not believe that this is one of the most hate-filled people within the black metal scene. The songs are about 10 minutes long each, except for the intro, and the album's one flaw is that Darken seems to be struggling to fill that 10 minutes from time to time. Besides that one thing, this is an excellent effort, and the more liberal-minded metal fans should ignore the band's beliefs and give this a listen, as this may appeal more to the fans of Opeth then Veles or Absurd. Which was probably not Darken's intention.
Grade: B+
© 2001 raagoonshinnaah