Review by Tobias on March 16, 2001.

Raised from the misnomer Scum in 1992, these raucous Swedes gave themselves a Viking overhaul to give us some great death metal that doesn’t lose sight of its heavy metal roots. The Crusher, the third full length hammering opus by Amon Amarth, is neck deep in viking imagery, crusading metal guitars and the almighty double-bass.

Before I was aware of Amon Amarth’s preference for Abyss Studio, Zgred and I were remarking on the similarities between Johan Hegg’s vocal style and that of Hypocrisy’s Peter Tagtgren. Hmm… coincidence? Don’t get me wrong, Johan is right on with his shredding style.

One thing that I really dig in Amon Amarth is their ability to fuse death with heavy metal bridges spawned of flailing guitars. The problem with it however is that not only are these instances few and far between, they also feel a little sudden; the band needs to work on lead-ins to these bridges. I’d love to hear Ted Lundstrom give us some downtuned interludes on his four-string.

The teeth-baring tracks Risen from the Sea (2000) and A Fury Divine are probably my two favorite tracks, riddled with war-god fury and persecution imagery.

Bottom Line: Enough power and diversity punches through on The Crusher to satiate death metal fans everywhere.

Rating: 7 of 10

Review by Krys on November 1, 2001.

Naglfar doesn’t belong to the group of bands that spoils its fans with a new release every year or so. After their 1995 debut “Vittra” we waited almost 3 years for “Diabolical” and now, after another 3 year dry-spell, instead of a full-length “Sheol” we get a MCD compilation of old re-mastered tracks, a cover and only one new song. One new song?! To wait 3 years for a new full-length album is long enough but to get one track instead is just low, miserable and pathetic.

Yes, I’m angry. I was really looking forward to the Neglfar development as one of the most promising bands on the black metal scene and I still am, but releasing low-cost, low-effort CDs won’t bring them a cult status in metal circles.

But my feeling aside, let’s talk about the music. Starting with the first song, if the one and only new track on “Ex Inferis”, ‘Of Gorgons Spawned through Witchcraft’, is any kind of indication of what to expect from “Sheol”, then prepare yourself for aggressive Norwegian black metal. Great guitar riffs, high shrieks of Jens Ryden, unmerciful drums and slower melodic passages really increased my cravings for the new release.

The Massacre cover, ‘Dawn of Eternity’, only affirmed my high expectations regarding this band, absolutely beautiful. And here we can stop.

‘Emerging from Her Weepings’ is a re-recording of the “Vittra” track and other than boosted production this track musically sounds worse than the original. How could you drop the acoustic beginning? The last two tracks come from “Diabolical” and even though I really love them, especially 'The Brimstone Gate', which I can listen to constantly, I don’t understand the idea behind including them on this album.

Bottom Line: Overall “Ex Inferis” represents 27 minutes of very good material but only if you hear it for the first time. Other than one more CD for a diehard fan collection I don’t see any real value in this release.

Rating: 6 out of 10