After releasing two excellent demos, "Ad Majorem Satanae Gloriam" (more into thrash metal than black metal) & "The warlord", Duke Satanael offered to the world the first Black Metal MCD from Monaco... I guess he was more inspired by his (former ?) friends of OSCULUM INFAME (who thank him in the booklet of their 1st CD) than by the luxurious houses and Ferraris of his "country" to release that album... Anyway, here we have a very good release, a "Burzum-ish" vocal style coming with a conventional & medieval black metal. The main influence may be the 1st SARYRICON LP, especially for the use of keyboards, but this MCD is for sure in a Norwegian style so if you like bands such as SATYRICON, BURZUM or the 1st MALIGNANT ETERNAL CD, this one is for you ! The production could have been better, especially on the drum machine but it's not so bad for a first album. You can buy it for sure, even if the tracks appear a bit repetitive after a couple of listenings...

Rating : 7.5/10

© 2001 lord pesten