What's this, a band with a semblance of conviction on Last Episode? All poking fun aside, there were some good bands on LE: Suidakra, the first Vilkates, early Atanatos, and, of course, Damnation!! To the matter at hand, Zorn's debut full-length continues where their Mayhem-influenced demo left off. Aforementioned influences are still audible, but Zorn has incorporated other ideas to make it less obvious and more their own music. Actually, I'm picking up hints of "Following The Voice of Blood" or perhaps "Thousand Swords"-era Graveland in some of the bridge riffing. Zorn used the money Last Episode gave them for recording (if indeed, LE actually paid them at all - as some reports would leave one to doubt). The instruments are cleaner and they share space in the mix and the vocals are still harsh with an application of reverb. But this cleanliness wounds the aesthetic in my opinion. The interplay of . nay, the competition for space among guitar, bass and drum on the demo created a far more wicked sound. The vocals achieved their unearthly grate from less than perfect equipment on the demo (or imperfect use of good equipment). On the CD they are less mesmerizing due to their obviously electronic enhancements. To continue beating the poor horse, I'm finding this CD far less satisfying than the demo, not just because I prefer my raw black metal to actually be raw, but because I'm finding most of the songs aren't very interesting and are, dare I say (!?), simply filler. Sure, there are some mighty moments and I won't turn my back on Zorn for this (short) album, but if their next release has a couple good tunes and the rest filler? I won't be back for the third.

© 2003 j. mcintyre