1349 - Liberation (2003)

By 2003 Norwegian black metal had largely hit the skids, genre heavyweights like Emperor and Immortal had called it quits, Satyricon and Mayhem were going through changes (not the sort I'd hope for either) and Gorgoroth and Dimmu Borgir had reached a state of being quite simply abominable. I had not totally given up though, Windir had released their fourth and largely enjoyable album, 'Likferd,' while Taake's, 'Over Bjoergvin Graater Himmerik' and Tsjuder's, 'Demonic Possession' were surely getting a fair share of plays from me. By the latter half of '03 I'd introduce myself to 1349 for the first time, through their debut, 'Liberation, and I'd realize Norwegian black metal wasn't as bad off as I'd originally thought...

Combining the relentless blast driven direction that their own countrymen in Immortal made famous a decade earlier with a rawer guitar tone akin to the genre standards, 'Liberation' is a thirty eight minute affair of crushing high speed true to the bone dosage of classic Norwegian Black Metal. Highlighted by Satyricon's own Kjetil-Vidar "Frost" Haraldstad behind the drumkit, the man delivers an absolutely beastly performance of blistering percussive blasting, drum rolls, galloping beats and cymbal crashes, which in my own opinion match up to his earlier work on Satyricon's landmark, 'Nemesis Divina.'

Doused in distorted fuzz, the guitar tone and work of Tjalve & Archaon is admirable, often lambasting the listener with more than a few mighty riffs that shift between full on bludgeoning tremolo creepy speediness, such as on 'Pitch Black' & 'Liberation' to slower atmospheric moments, as seen in, 'Deathmarch' & 'Satanic Propaganda' or even towards a blackened thrash structure on 'Riders of the Apocalypse.' The cover of Mayhem's 'Buried By Time & Dust' follows the original, though faster in its overall direction, while the riffs in 'Legion' are downright catchy too. Culminated by the pernicious shrieks of Ravn, his delivery may remain similar throughout the album, but its hard to deny such a passionate effort.

'Liberation,' at least to me, stands as one of the finer entries within the Norwegian Black Metal scene in the past decade, and the band would only continue to grow, releasing the equally impressive 'Beyond the Apocalypse' in '04 and my personal favorite, 'Hellfire' in '05.

"As the sky burns we march forward, Crushing, tormenting and raping the
world, Hunt down all survivors, living in fear, We ride with death so no one is
spared, What once were will never be again, (Because) the horseman of death brings the world to an end!"