Stepping away from the necro sound of their demos, Tsjuder have graced us with an awesomely recorded disc full of speedy, blasting, and yes, brutal black metal. Undeniably, there is a Norwegian presence to their work (apparently Tsjuder are made up of members of Gehenna and Isvind?), but they eschew both the Darkthronish raw approach and the symphonic approach for a slightly death metal approach yet remain firmly entrenched in the general Scandinavian black metal traditions of speedy and majestic chord progressions and cold and eerie melodies. One can also pick up impressions of really old school black metal (Venom) in some of the lyrical phrasings and rhythms. I think the production on this disc plays a part in its success. The songs are recorded thickly and clearly, yet the playing still sounds off-the-cuff and genuine, not clinical. Some of the demo songs that have been re-recorded for this disc sound much better with nuances that are missed on the previous versions. Sure, some unholy black metal hasn't the time for artsy-fartsy nuances, but the brutality of "Sodomizing The Lamb" simply comes through better on the re-recorded version with the more noticeable palm-muted riffs and better defined drum patterns.

© 2001 j. mcintyre