You have GOT to be wary about a band who name themselves after a Darkthrone track and ludicrously photograph themselves posing in incredibly lame stances on the cover. I mean, what the fuck were these idiots thinking? Argh. I have an extreme peeve for goofy looking covers. Now onto the music. To say this is hopelessly unoriginal and contrived is an understatement. Firstly, every song starts off with the sound of howitzers and machine guns going off, which is not only irritating but disgustingly cliché. I mean, come on!

To describe Pagan Winter’s music would be an exercise that is not too exerting at all. This is raw and unrepentant, filthy black metal with pitiful production, so much so that the snare drum sounds like a ringing, annoying ping in the distance. The vocals sound ostracized from the rest of the mayhem in a far-off pit, ie Svartsyn, which never really is a bad thing, and the guitarist seems to have a fixation on Euronymous, if no-one else.

All the songs are rather average and occasionally border on greatness with a few really catchy hooks littered here and there, but otherwise this is really formulaic and maybe even tedious raw black metal for people who have too much money to spend like me. You’re better off without this one, if truth be told.

[6.5]

© 2000 equimanthorn