Well, Orthodox Black metal has reached it's prime. With bands like Unholy Trinity, Avichi and Ondskapt releasing extremely good black metal works, it's hard not to like the genre. I will say that as a person of a non-religious background, the subject matter is kind of dull to me. I mean, how many bands - not just black metal - have sang about the "glory of satan and killing the christians"? It just seems redundant to me... almost as bad shooting a dead horse.
I will say that Ondskapt has always been exceptional in their music. They do have a feel to them that is almost like you're listening to the very voice of satan himself. Being that Ondskapt have had 3 releases, it could be said that they have settled into their musical voice, however, it could be that they are also just experimenting in their sound to find their true calling. I like to think it's a bit of both, meaning that they have found their sound, but want to experiment with it and make it better each record.
The intro is a noise/ambient piece. Kind of like screams of kids/women over some sounds of destruction and ambience. It's a nice intro into the first track. The album flows almost flawlessly too, being that all the songs link to one another, and the mixer had the perfect idea for this album. Basically it flows as well as Dödens Evangelium, but I like this one just a bit more for the reason that it moved away from being "traditional" and "cult" black metal.
The voices in the album basically follow the same theme as Dödens Evangelium in the sense that it's just a scream, found in most black metal, but it seems to have more feeling to it, as if he is drinking from the black chalice of the christ hunter himself. I would almost put this album in my top 5 black metal albums of all time, next to De Mysteris Dom Sathanas and In the Nightside Eclipse. It's really a masterpiece from all angles, especially Instrumentally.
In fact, I would say that the instrumental tracks this time around are probably the best black metal instrumentals since the second wave from Scandinavia, even better then Marduk's Wormwood, which I held with high regards because of the instrumentals. The drumming stepped back from the simplistic blast/slow thrash/blast combo so typical to black metal, and followed a more progressive run, which is all around epic. I love it when bands step from the norm. It's so great to hear a black metal act that has traditional roots still, but steps away from the typicality of the scene.
All in all, I'd say it's the best black metal record of the 2000's, if not one of the best since the scene has started. It's a great place to start, even if you haven't heard Dödens Evangelium. It's almost as if you've taken a slow descent into madness, and Ondskapt is there to guide you. Buy this album whenever possible.
