I've been eagerly waiting to hear Megiddo's debut full-length for what seems like forever. Their demo CD, "The Final War", is an impressive slab of old-school Black Metal- even though it was merely a compilation of their two demos, and even though it had a drum machine rather than live drums, it easily outclassed most of the new albums I've heard in the last three or four years. By the time "The Devil and the Whore" arrived, I'd developed amazingly high expectations for this release.

It blew them all away on the very first listen, and only got better from there. The first thing I noticed was the live drums- they improve Megiddo's sound immeasurably, as one can easily hear by comparing the re-recorded songs from the demos with the originals. The musicianship on the other instruments also seems to have improved.

However, the most impressive thing about this album is the songwriting. This has taken a giant leap forward from the demos- there are four new Megiddo songs on this nine song album (along with three old demo songs and two covers), and all four of them are easily the best things Megiddo ever released. Take a listen to the eerie, haunting strains of "The Oath". Even without the lyrics, the music here gives me an impression of the eternal march, an unending journey... exactly the subject of the lyrics. You'll rarely hear a song with lyrics that match the music as well as this. The lyrics for the epic "Across the Shores/Four Suns..." are equally great, the very definition of cold misanthropy. Best of all, the lyrics are printed in the booklet this time, so we can all rasp along.

Do what you have to in order to get this- it's one of the best Black Metal albums I've ever heard. It's limited to 666 copies, and may be acquired from the label.

Best Tracks- "The Oath", "Across the Shores/Four Suns..."

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