Neige et Noirceur - La Seigneurie Des Loups (2010)

I've said it before and I'll say it again - Something seriously freakin' amazing is happening up in Quebec... well, at least as far as Black Metal is concerned. In recent years bands, such as; Forteresse, Gris and Sombres Forêts have released exceptional and original sounding black metal records, which have forced folks worldwide to take notice. Now enter, Neige et Noirceur.

Neige et Noirceur's origins date back to 2005 when the band was formed as the solo project of Zifond in Montreal, Quebec and by the time he released this one, 'La Seigneurie Des Loups' last year he also had a couple demos, singles, splits and of course one other album titled, 'Crépuscule Hivernal sans Fin sur les Terres de la Guerre.'

The bands music could probably best be described as ambient black metal as there's almost always some sort of backing synth arrangement riding alongside all of the blackened chaos. Also much like other bands in this genre the majority of the five songs are over the ten minute mark totaling for forty seven minutes altogether. However Zifond also occasionally includes some folk influences within his raging Norse-ish sounding black metal attack and its here where I think the album only escalates further.

'Croix de feu croix de fer' opens with the sounds of a mouth harp before storming through thirteen minutes of thunderous black metal. I think one of the things you'll quickly notice about this band is that there is a lot going on and you'll have to pay attention because some of its lost in the production. For starters the synths by no means sound typical and just as a point of reference they seem to remind me of the odder synth arrangements found on Enslaved's debut, 'Vikingligr Veldi.' The tremolo styled riffs are exceptional on this song and record in general and when the acoustic guitars occasionally pop up it all blends quite well together. The bass guitar is also noticeably present and it adds an ominous vibe amongst all the bedlam. However what I really enjoy about this record is that the music seems to be rather energetic at times and has a very powerful drive behind it, which at least for me keeps me going and longing to here where things will go from each section to the next.

'Ancien Folklore Québécois' is another stunning piece on this record that blends acoustic music and frantic black metal perfectly, although the folk parts are actually sampled from a traditional Quebecois folk ensemble named, La Bottine Souriante, but its all quite catchy and memorable in the end. '1839' however is a short acoustic piece actually performed by Zifond and I just adore it since it has this timeless quality to it that brings you back to the 19th century during its duration.

Things triumphantly continue onwards with the title track and also longest at sixteen minutes, 'La Seigneurie Des Loups.' Opening with samples of wolves munching and horses whining alongside backing ambiance some heavy doom-ish dominating riffs eventually take hold as the momentum of the ambiance increases and quite soon after the music returns to pure black metal again. This particular one has a lot of what made the opening song so great as well it also features a minor psychedelic-ish vibe to it later on in the song. The samples also continue popping up here and there and it would seem Zifond is fond of using them since they are all over this album. 'Les Plaines De Krolok' is also quite good, although its an almost entirely ambient piece, but it still ends the album on a high note.

The album is not perfection though as I think some parts could have been shortened and made room for an additional song, but what you going to do? Otherwise though I think, 'La Seigneurie Des Loup' is a success and its enough motivation to track down Zifond's other releases as well to continue to follow the stunning Quebecois Black Metal scene.

Carnage - Dark Recollections (1990)

Carnage, the creation of guitarist Michael Amott was initially formed in Stockholm, Sweden in 1989 as a Carcass styled grindcore band called Global Carnage, but after Dismember's temporary split-up, Fred Estby, Matti Karki and David Blomkuist joined up, the name was shortened to simply Carnage and it was full on Swedish Death Metal from there on.

Recorded in February of 1990, 'Dark Recollections' was the second true Swedish Death Metal album after Entombed's, 'Left Hand Path' and it was originally released as a split CD with, "Hallucinating Anxiety" by Cadaver from Norway and shortly thereafter Earache released it as a stand alone album.

Musically Dark Recollections was a fairly straight forward recording that pretty much emulated the style that Entombed introduced a few months earlier. Recorded as well with Tomas Skogsberg at Sunlight Studios the guitar tone is quite similar although actually a bit heavier overall, the bass is more audible, Matti uses a more guttural vocal delivery and the bands drive is nearly as stomping as Entombed yet something seems slightly off.

Overlooking the obvious similarities to Entombed, I think one of the albums weaknesses is that the riffs are just not nearly as dynamic and catchy and the relentless energy that Left Hand Path displayed is not nearly as present here. Four old Dismember demo songs were also re-recorded for this album and although they are quite good I've heard folks say that the original demos actually topple Carnage's re-recordings. Also there are some grindy parts to this record where the band just completely blasts away without any real point.

Of course if you throw all comparisons out the door or have never heard Left Hand Path then this record could easily be viewed as absolutely one of the best death metal records ever, but really in the end its probably safe to say that Carnage recorded this album prematurely. Perhaps had the band took another year to mature, tighten up and write some truly remarkable songs it could be a lot more than it truly is. Nevertheless it is quite good for what it is and although I haven't owned it very long its been an album I've grabbed and thrown on quite a bit during the past twelve months.

After this album Michael Amott received an offer to join Carcass and this quickly lead to Carnage's demise. It did on the other hand bring about the reunion of Dismember and I suppose we all know well that Dismember went on to record several massively classic Swedish Death Metal albums during the course of the 90's.

Chances are the original pressings of this are hard to come by and expensive too, but Earache re-released it in 2000 with a slightly different cover, remastered sound as well as the, 'Infestation of Evil' & 'The Day Man Lost' demos as bonuses, which was actually during the bands grindcore period, but its interesting to hear these earlier rarities, anyway.

Omnia - Crone of War (2004)

Every once in awhile, I occasionally drift off and start wondering what life must have been like centuries ago for my long lost ancestors. I can easily admit for years I’ve often wished I could have been born a long time ago. Maybe this seems kind of weird but I’ve always had this strange attachment to ancient times and always had this obsession with medieval times, ancient cultures, their beliefs and their way of life. Maybe this is just due to my excessive viewing of movies set in that time (Braveheart and such), my interest in history or perhaps reading fantasy books and stuff has had some influence on me as well. Whatever the case may be I’ve always felt that I somehow didn’t belong to this current world. As if there’s some ancient person inside of me that is screaming to be awoken, but for some reason just wont fully awake.

Omnia began in 1996 and at one point in time was described as a 'fourteen-person Iron-age Celtic music and combat spectacle group,' which performed at Pagan festivals around Europe. However in time the band was reduced to just two members and in 2002 Steve’s wife Jenny joined the group adding her harp skills. The music of Omnia is a bit hard to fully describe but one thing for sure is that it has this feeling of ancient timelessness to it or just refer to the bands own description, which they call, Neo-Celtic Pagan Folk. Almost like something you’d expect some ancient people to perform around a roaring fire late at night, with lots of dancing, close friends and family singing together and probably a good amount of alcohol as well. I still remember back in 2004 when the kind folks in this band gave me their album I felt that ancient spirit within me awakening a bit more and although I haven't listened to this album much in recent years it is always nice to re-visit it now and again for that good ol' feelin'.

One of the really interesting characteristics of this band is that all of the music is performed on acoustic instruments. So that means no samples, drum machines, or synth was used at all on this album. The album uses dozens of instruments most of which were customized by the band themselves. On, ‘Crone of War’ you can expect to hear instruments like the 33-stringed harp, various drums, various whistles & flutes, bouzouki, guitars, horns, grand piano and amongst those much more. The vocals are generally kept to a minimum, but when they are used they are quite exciting. Usually they are performed in a chant type of way, but there are also some normal vocals and some weirder sounding voices & noises to be heard on this album too.

Probably my two favorite songs on this release are, ‘Morrigan’ & ‘The Bold Fenian Men.’ Morrigan has both its calm relaxing moments with just the flute present, but slowly builds up with some great vocals, fast pounding drums and enfolds into one really epic masterpiece. ‘The Bold Fenian Men’ is a traditional Irish song and it’s basically a rather straightforward folk song. On the other hand it’s quite a beautiful little song with some lovely music and great vocals from Steve present in it. Even though I’ve only talked briefly about two songs here I must admit the album, as a whole is just fantastic from start to finish.

Finally all I can say is I absolutely recommend this album to any and everyone that has any interest in Celtic/Folky type of music. Each song seems to have this ability to completely transport both your mind and body to time of long, long ago. Whence again a time I wish I could see with my own eyes (If Hollywood and books even comes close to portraying it correctly). Plus the album comes in a really beautiful digipak, with great photos and complete with lyrics and descriptions for each of the songs. And not to forget the band also throws in a little humor here and there, which is totally cool in my opinion.

Looking back to 2004 I don't think Omnia was an especially popular band but through their flashy live performances plus several albums since this one it seems they've become quite the well known little band in Europe. I've quite regrettably only heard a few random songs from these other releases, which I might just have to remedy soon since I'm sure they are just as stunning as this early release.

So if you lust for the old times to return or just want to hear some extremely talented and extremely unique music, than I would suggest hearing, ‘Crone of War’ or any of the bands other albums, which I'll just assume are great too.

Forgotten Tomb - Vol. 5: 1999-2009 (2010)

My first contact with Italy's Forgotten Tomb was quite a while ago back during the, 'Songs to Leave' era although I never actually got my hands on that debut album. I remember 2002 quite well because it was a rather bleak period in my life where I was hopelessly depressed and struggling in college, I didn't really have any friends and I was on the verge of becoming an alcoholic.

I recall at some point during that year I came across Forgotten Tomb and Shining from Sweden and was greatly intrigued by their pessimistic and hopeless views on life and human existence. Forgotten Tomb in particular stuck out because they had some sort of 'suicide contest' going on through their website where they encouraged folks to send in photos of their self mutilations and such with the chance of winning... something, I think. Well, I didn't win, but I'd be happy to show you the scar on my left arm if you'd like.

Coming to some conclusion on this personal rant things would eventually get better for yours truly and other than hearing the bands cover of, 'Nowhere' on the Katatonia tribute, 'December Songs,' I'd all but forgotten about Forgotten Tomb.

Years later I still occasionally find myself craving some dark suicidal music and that lead me back to Forgotten Tomb finally for their most recent release (at the time), 'Vol. 5: 1999-2009,' which is a ten year anniversary compilation that features eleven songs re-recorded in one studio session, although in some cases several songs are combined to form one long medley.

Musically if you're not familiar with Forgotten Tomb they play a type of black/doom metal that seems to shift between funeral dirge paced early Katatonia doom/death metal to occasional black metal blasting with raspy screamed vocals about all things unpleasant in life. What really catches my interest with these songs is that the music is mostly highly melodious in its delivery and although quite bleak and depressing sounding it also has a sense of energy and speed where you can actually bang your head in a mad fury if you so choose too.

Some of the individual songs that really stick out for me are, 'A Dish Best Served Cold,' which is absolutely stunning and I love the way Herr Morbid screams out the title at the beginning of the song (as well as a few others) since it gives it a live sort of atmosphere to the whole recording and at least for me it really makes things more engaging. 'Love's Burial Ground' is also fantastic and 'Spectres Over Venice,' which is from the latest full-length, 'Under Saturn Retrograde' sounds promising as well. The cover of Nirvana's, 'Papercuts' is surprisingly fun too.

The medleys I mentioned earlier are quite admirable too, especially the first song, 'Black Sabbath/Subway Apathy,' which borrows the intro from that classic Sabbath song before diving into Subway Apathy. I'm also quite fond of, 'Disheartenment/Alone/Steal My Corpse,' which combines three great songs into one thirteen minute monster of melodic doom and depression. The same could also be said for, 'Entombed by Winter/House of Nostalgia,' but I really enjoy the first half of, 'Depression/Feedback,' which is actually a Black Flag cover performed in a black metal/punk sort of vein, which is then followed by several minutes of guitar feedback, which probably isn't the wisest choice the band could have made to end this otherwise exciting compilation, but whatever.

Bearing in mind the fact that I don't own any other Forgotten Tomb releases I can say that as a whole, 'Vol. 5: 1999-2009' is just excellent and has completely renewed my interest in a band I almost completely forgot about.

Iron Maiden - Fear of the Dark (1992)

Iron Maiden's ninth studio album, 'Fear of the Dark' is an interesting album since I'd say its the last decent Maiden record. Its not a great record, 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son' gets the honor of being the last truly great Maiden album, but its light years improved upon the horrible, 'No Prayer for the Dying' in '90 or the two subsequent albums they did after Fear with Blaze Bayley at the vocal helm and honestly I think its even better than any of the last four albums they've done with Bruce back at the vocal position (Bruce left after this one to concentrate on his solo work).

On a personal level Fear was actually the first Maiden record I heard and my initial interest in the band was spawned years ago when I saw an ad in a metal/hard rock magazine (Hit Parader, I think) for the album and I remember thinking that the cover of Fear was way more bad ass than the Metallica or Megadeth records I was listening to at the time. Therefore I had to have it. Unfortunately I don't really remember the album making a huge impression on me back then as I probably preferred thrash more so, but just recently I re-bought this album and was quite shocked to hear tons of great songs on it.

The album kicks off with, 'Be Quick or be Dead' & 'From Here to Eternity,' which are both fast paced catchy numbers that hook you in instantly and are more of less classic sounding Maiden songs. 'Afraid to Shoot Strangers' & 'Wasting Love' are slower numbers, somewhat ballady, but nevertheless decent songs if you're in the mood for them. 'The Fugitive' & 'Chains of Misery' are simple mid-paced songs, but they are catchy like you wouldn't believe, especially Chains' chorus which has been caught in my brain entirely too many times. For me though the albums absolute highlight is the 3 minute, 'Judas be my Guide,' which has superb musicianship, powerful lead vocals and honestly its one of the most memorable Iron Maiden songs for me. Finally the 12th song, the title track, 'Fear of the Dark' is an all-time favorite for Maiden fans and its played live at almost every show, though I think some folks will argue and say that they prefer the live version of it.

So, what's wrong with this album? Its hard to say really, but I think the fact that the songs are fairly simple mid-paced numbers that are somewhat short in length and there isn't really any ridiculously awesome jaw dropping solos in them that would otherwise grab peoples attention as much as the stuff from the 80's did. I could also be that most of the songs lack that characteristic Maiden dynamics which was present on the earlier stuff and I've also heard some say that Bruce's voice lacks passion, but I only partially agree with that one.

Nevertheless there are some good songs present and I'll still say this is the last decent Iron Maiden album, because frankly things got really bad after this.

Father Befouled - Morbid Destitution of Covenant (2010)

Recently I was reading about a number of new bands who have supposedly dedicated their musical energy to paying tribute to classic 90's death metal, in particular its said that a lot of them were following in Incantation's footsteps. Therefore if mimicry is the highest form of flattery than I'd say John McEntee will no doubt be up to his neck in it after he hears, 'Morbid Destitution of Covenant.'

Only a few months ago I had something of an Incantation resurrection after not listening to the band for years, in fact (at some point) I sold all of my old Incantation records when I wasn't preferring this brand of death metal. However as I've said in the past year or so my hunger for death metal has been a bit stronger than my interest in black metal and that's essentially what lead me back to a band I started with years and years ago.

But, anyway, as I've already said Father Befouled is going for that classic Incantation sound and they pull if off splendidly too. Eleven songs grace this beast during its thirty eight minute duration, but in a way it feels like one long song because each song bleeds right into the other and the constant shifts from blasting brutal death metal to the heavily downtuned creepy doom/death style is prevalent until the 10th song, an outro, which is some sort of choral Gregorian chant keyboard composition... also curiously the longest song on the album at almost seven minutes.

However I think what I just love about this record and the Incantation style in general is that its always ominous, bleak, exciting, intense, atmospheric, sickening, hideous, technical and just plain massively brutal all at the same time. Really everything from the heavy as hell guitars and their dynamic flair to the bludgeoning drumming and ultra low vocals is perfect on this record. Of course its nothing original but when you pay tribute to gods like Incantation you'd best do it right and I'd say these guys absolutely nailed it.

This Illinois/Georgia based band known as Father Befouled has been at it since 2007 and already with one demo, two EPs, three splits and two full-lengths behind them it would seem they are quite serious about what they do. It should be interesting to see if they continue on in this style or introduce something new to their music in the future, especially considering that fact that some of the members have a black metal background. Either way my opinion on, 'Morbid Destitution of Covenant' is set and all I can say in the end is that this one just kills everything in its path!

Vader - The Ultimate Incantation (1993)

Vader's debut, 'The Ultimate Incantation' from 1993 is surely one of the finest entries in the death metal genre in the early 90's as well its arguably the bands finest creation though most probably prefer the sophomore release, 'De Profundis,' which is understandable since its pretty goddamn good too.

It's interesting to point out immediately that six of the twelve songs previously appeared on the bands two demo tapes, 'Necrolust' & 'Morbid Reich' while the rest were wrote between the '91-'92 time frame.

Vader's style on this early outing is also quite different from what was more common at the time as most of the riffs and leads are played in a total thrashy Slayer-esque manner while the drums and vocals are more typical of death metal. The songs although covered with Doc's blasting drums for the majority of their duration the actual speed of the guitar playing isn't exactly light speed, in fact there are some slow moments even, which again point towards their thrash influences, but everything is well paced and flows quite nicely. The riffs I also find to be incredibly catchy, energetic and just full of character, which, at least for me results in some sort of headbanging motion, but that's just me. The solos are also short but entertaining and fortunately there really isn't anything that sounds like filler material or left overs and that's really saying something since the album runs for almost fifty minutes. Also you've got to admire the vocals since they are low and guttural but still quite understandable and I've always thought Peter delivered his best performance here.

Originally recorded at Sunlight Studio with Thomas Skogsberg, neither the band nor the label were satisfied with the results, therefore the whole thing was re-recorded at Rhythm Studios in England. Either way the album suffers greatly in the production area with the overall volume being quite low, the bass being non-existent and the guitar having an odd tone that I'm not quite sure if I like or not. Nevertheless there's just something about this first album that speaks to me a little bit more and just totally hits the spot when I need a good dosage of classic death metal. I guess I can't really explain that, but its just got so much energy behind it and the music is played with such heart and skill that its hard to resist.

In the end, 'The Ultimate Incantation' is overlooked a bit due to some of its shortcomings and as I already said most probably prefer, 'De Profundis' since these shortcomings were cured, but personally I'm of the opinion that both are stellar and well worth owning.

Opeth - The Throat of Winter (2011)

Opeth's, 'The Throat of Winter' single was originally featured on Roadrunner Records' digital EP, 'Blood & Metal,' which was some sort of promotional thing for the then new God of War video game. The song received its physical copy release on April 16, 2011 as a 7" vinyl to celebrate Record Store Day and was limited to just 1000 copies. Side A features the song while Side B of the 7” is etched with the band’s logo and thankfully this single also received its own unique artwork designed by Travis Smith, which as usual is wonderfully done.

The song itself is a fast paced acoustic composition that's somewhat different sounding in style compared to previous Opeth acoustic pieces. The song has, of course, strong cleanly sung vocals from Mikael, but musically it holds something of a psychedelic vibe to it with some sort of odd Mediterranean/Greek/whatever like undertone, which I suppose makes sense as it was originally intended for a video game that centers around Greek mythology. Naturally it is also quite progressive and shifts between a cheery sort of mood to a darker area and then back to a trippy sort of area. All in all its also quite catchy with some memorable parts from Mikael's lyrics getting stuck in my head each time I've listened to it as well Per's keyboards are brilliant as ever and the guitar work seems different but also great.

More than likely if you weren't at a record store on the day of this ones release you probably wont be able to get your hands on it and I think its a bit funny to see folks already trying to cash in on it through eBay... with not much success though. Anyway, definitely a nice little item to own for the Opeth fans as well it should be interesting to see if this song is any indication of future Opeth material.

Velnias - Sovereign Nocturnal (2008)

I first came across the Boulder, Colorado based band, Velnias sometime in 2007 when I randomly took a chance and bought their debut demo, 'Pacing the Cyclic Nether.' I remembered enjoying it quite a bit and when I found out that one my favorite labels, God is Myth Records would be releasing their debut full-length I was quite stoked and as it turned out, 'Sovereign Nocturnal' was absolutely brilliant.

Cataloged as blackened folk/doom metal, in my opinion Velnias dwells much more on the doomy side of town because to me simple acoustic parts in any given song are not always necessarily enough to call a band folk metal or folk influenced. After all you wouldn't call Opeth a folk metal band, right? Having said that, there are many blackened elements which prove the tag as being valid, especially the vocals which are delivered in a raspy blackened voice as well as a typical low guttural doom roar. Also only three songs grace this release, but each is over twelve minutes for a total playing time of forty one minutes.

What seems to be the constant throughout these three long songs is the absolute level of emotion that is put on display as well as the immense amount of detail the listener has to allow so he/she doesn't miss anything. As this album is largely doom one might expect the emotional response to be the typical depressive characteristics the genres is known for, but Velnias is doing something different here. To me this record sounds much more foreboding and apocalyptic in style and perhaps that's due to the black metal elements or the sudden speedier bursts within these songs. Also I have to admit this album works quite well whilst wondering through nature and as such it might appeal to the Agalloch, Falls of Rauros, Wolves in the Throne Room or even Opeth crowd.

As for paying attention, well, you'll definitely have to give this baby a few spins before it all clicks in. You'll have to listen to it on different stereos in different places and under different conditions and moods. I'd also have to recommend trying it out with a good set of head phones just so you don't miss any of the finer details lurking within and believe me they are there.

The guitars and bass are all very powerful in their sound, delivery and melody whilst similarly you could say the drums are executed wonderfully in their intensity and precision. 'Sovereign Nocturnal' comes housed in a thin digipak, with superb artwork, although without any lyrics, but the band describe their music as, "An entity in opposition to this misguided and failing modern world. The music is a reflection of man’s falling and the grandeur of that which he has forsaken."

In the end Velnias' debut was surely one of the best albums released in 2008 and is absolutely a must for anyone that might fancy any of the bands mentioned earlier or just a strange mix of doom and black metal.

Setherial - Nord (1996)

Since their inception in the early 90's the Swedes in Setherial have more or less made a career out of making music quite common to other Nordic acts. 'Nord' their debut from '96 is often seen as a cousin or brother to Emperor's, 'In the Nightside Eclipse,' while the bands following record, 'Lords of the Nightrealm' wasn't too far off from sounding like a Marduk or Dark Funeral copy, though '99's, 'Hell Eternal' lightly re-introduced synths once again alongside with typical relentless blastbeats, hellish screams, Satanic lyrics and simple tremolo picked guitar parts.

Recorded in Abyss Studios in September of '95, 'Nord's' production is fairly similar to In the Nightside Eclipse with the hissing raw guitars, thick somewhat oppressive keyboard melodies, booming fast drum work and raspy trollish screams, although the overall volume of the recording is a bit low, which results in the listener having to turn the knobs way up or listening to it via headphones. Despite the production issues each of the six songs (43 mins. total) feature superb musicianship, its just that you've got to really pay attention because a lot of it is lost within the production. However once you really focus in on things you'll take notice of some absolutely colossal and catchy riffs and some utterly beautiful keyboard melodies.

The drum work (played by someone named Anders) although quite good is dominated by the sound of cymbals and double bass blasting, which yet again is quite similar to the way Faust's drums sounded. Nevertheless plenty of drum rolls and killer fills find their into the mix and it works quite well. The buzzing guitars are like a blizzardy onslaught alongside the drums and it creates a vibe of total darkness and wintry fury. Acoustic guitars are also spread out all over this recording, which often feature something of a depressive folk-ish vibe to them while some of the longer songs, such as, 'In The Still Of A Northern Fullmoon' & 'Över det blodtäckta nord' reach absolutely epic heights with their inclusion. The keyboards are exactly what you'd expect as they are foreboding, majestic and just plain gorgeous all at once.

In the end though my only real complaint with this recording is the low volume, which you'd expect to have been altered on the re-issue, but no dice. Sure the similarities to Emperor are obvious too, but holy fuck what's wrong with trying to emulate one of the greatest black metal records ever?!

Of course Setherial continues onwards today with six albums behind them and whether or not they ever explored any area outside that blast beat driven black metal area is beyond me. Therefore if you've spent many cold nights blasting In the Nightside Eclipse and want something similar then this would be the path to take because Nord is excellent.

Ulver - Nattens Madrigal-Aatte Hymne til Ulven i Manden (1997)

After releasing the brilliant, ‘Bergtatt’ in 1995 and following it up with the stunning acoustic folk masterpiece that is, ‘Kveldssanger’ a year later, Ulver continued on their black metal path and completed their three part trilogy with, ‘Nattens Madrigal-Aatte Hymne til Ulven i Manden' in 1997.

In terms of rawness, necroness and possibly trueness Ulver pretty much outdid everyone with this one. The production for Nattens Madrigal is anything but clear, in fact it comes fairly close to Darkthrone’s, ‘Transilvanian Hunger’ although the overall volume is considerably louder just to make the ride all the more rough. The album is all treble, feedback, reverb, buzzing chainsaw sounding guitars and barely any signs of a bass guitar, anywhere. As for the actual music Ulver went for a mostly brutal raw black metal sound and the only traces of anything folk related appear as a short acoustic interlude in the middle of the first song. Garm also forsake the use of his charming clean vocals for only his extreme black metal voice. While a lot of people overlook this album, it really is a striking release of speedy black metal with very hate filled purposes. If you can get past the scorching fast drumming, wicked vocals and buzzing guitars you’ll actual discover a great black metal release right here.

Unfortunately for many this is the last Ulver release they'll spin, sighting reasons as lame as that Ulver 'Sold Out,' 'Went Techno' or 'Or just plain suck' after this point in their history. This is, of course, all very much in the spite of the fact that Ulver has put out a very rich, diverse and challenging discography since these early days, but eccentrics are not for everyone.

There's also some strange rumors around this album, such as that Ulver had recorded the whole thing in a forest and that they had also taken all the money that Century Media had given them to record the thing and spent it on a new car and suits, which are both seen in the booklet of, 'Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.' There's also the tale that Century Media was very disappointed with this release after hearing it and almost threatened to not release it. Whether or not that’s true, I do not know, but I’m sure when signing they were expecting something similar to Bergtatt.

In the end, 'Nattens Madrigal-Aatte Hymne til Ulven i Manden' is surely one of the most vicious black metal recordings released in the 90's and is most certainly appreciated by people that listen to entirely to much black metal music. Personally I think its the weakest link within their trilogy and that they have gone on to release some pretty freakin' awesome tunes since these days, but when I'm in the mood for pure chaotic true black metal records I'm always grabbing at this one again.