Besides the Mayhem mCD, the Emperor CD, and the Limbonic Art CD, this is one of the most hyped albums of the year. Everywhere I looked, reviewers were drooling over it, calling it the greatest release of the year, etc; etc. I on the other hand (and other fans of real black metal) will be trading this off tomorrow, in hopes of finding something that can in some way be considered "interesting".

The keyword here is "Swedish". Everything of this album reeks of the traditional (ala Dissection) Swedish sound, from the vocals, drum production, and riffs. I personally hate this style with a particular passion, and really wish that it would be wiped off the face of this earth. Dark's vocals sound generic in the Swedish sense, Sin's drumming is produced in the simple Swedish style (and played that way as well), and the guitar sound is not only annoying (they feel some need to do a "distorted orgy of noise" in nearly every song, which becomes terribly annoying after a listen or two), but terrible boring sounding.

The one good thing about this album (it is much better than "Kiss the Goat" by the way) is the occasional usage of female vocals. Unlike most groups who use their girl friends in their bands, Lord Belial actually have a talented female on this album. Her voice is so very angelic, innocent, and erotic sounding. The album probably would have been saved if they had replaced her with Dark's vocals, and not to mention come up with an original album. Hyped to hell and beyond, this album really is not that great. Alas, if you're a fan of my reviews, you probably know that already. Right????!!!!!?????

© 1997 brand