Among the first wave of Norwegian-inspired black metal from East Europe in the first half of the 90's, Graveland created both a cult following and a horde of angry enemies. The shameless barbaric primitivism, aryanist lyrics and the infamous drum skills of Capricornus gave bullets to the gunnery of both sides involved in the argument. I must add that on Carpathian Wolves, as well as their other albums, Graveland has a very distinct and unique style, the dark and demonic Burzum-esque riffs (and sounds) plodding along the confused rhythms and Darken's snarls and infernal pronunciation of words giving a new voice to pagan war. Released on the small, defunct Eternal Devils and unavailable for a long while, it is now re-released by No Colours Recs. and everyone can get this for themselves. Time has given it the reputation that every black metal kid who gets into the true angle will want to own this and preach it, rightly for it truly is a black metal monument. The themes of vampiric revenge, Slavonic-Transylvanian forests and the hatred for christianity run in the veins of this epic record. These passed years since it was originally unleashed upon mankind have not faded its fire, but rather made it brighter; in the modern mediocrity it's hard to remember there once appeared fresh black metal bands from out of nowhere, with no playing skills, to give you a fresh kick in the face. It is hard to say where exactly the timeless and dark atmosphere of Carpathian Wolves is based musically, because as was said, the instruments are not played with great skill and they don't introduce new elements to the genre. However, the music speaks for itself. And it speaks volumes.

© 2002 black hate