A black metal band from New Jersey, U.S.A. Oh maaaa. A black metal band from the Oklahoma City. A black metal band from the Amish County. A black metal band from your grandma's retirement home. I guess I am being overly sarcastic and biased. Although American achievements on the field of black metal are quite humble, nowadays we have black metal bands springing from places like Singapore or Malaysia for Satan's sake. Actually this 3-song EP was released in 1995, so I suppose that I shouldn't just flatly dismiss Abazagorath as mere band-wagon jumpers, though they probably are, what with the cheesy CD title and the band members' stereotypical monikers like Morgul, Nyarlathotep and Cythrall. But let's see what they have to offer musically.

After a brief intro, the band jumps into "Rites of the Black Herald." This one is the weakest song on the CD. It's done in a groove-oriented sort of way , rounded up with pseudo-creepy keyboards. The vocal performance, compared to other two songs, is pretty weak also. The second song "Nightrealm" fares somewhat better. It is faster and more brutal and has a better vocal delivery, which features even some death metal growls. Half way through the song, the band suddenly slams the breaks and jumps into a slow death metal territory. A minute later, though, they are back into the black metal domain. The final track "Ghosts of the Moonlight Mist" is similar to the second song with it's alternating slow and fast parts.

Final verdict: passable, but quite generic, and, therefore, not recommended.

© 1999 boris