Review by Kostas on January 29, 2023.

Blackguard's first album has mostly received bad reviews. Why, you are wondering? The truth is once looking at the cover artwork of "Profugus Mortis", one will probably think of some adventurous folk metal songs, heroic symphonies and a bunch of drunk fellows singing about fantastic worlds of might and life. Well, the third one is what we have here, but apparently the guys got so drunk they weren't able to even record a medIocre album.

First things first, this band has a good keyboardist. He is actually so good, that he manages to play throughout the whole album non stop. Yes, almost every single second of this record has a crazy keyboard melody playing in the background, only to keep you unaware of how uninteresting the rest of the music really is. It's almost like a mosquito that doesn't let you sleep at night because it constantly buzzes next to your ear. That means completely unnecessary and annoying.

Besides the frenetic keyboards, there is little to appreciate in the rest of the album as well. From the boring drumming to the tiring guitar rifts and repetitions, the vocals are the worst part of "Profugus Mortis". An endless yelling voice which is absolutely too loud and from minute to minute will drive you dizzy. The most typicall example is "I Demon", where I would even catch myself wishing for the track to end from the very first second. The only thing I could consider good about this album is mixing and recording quality, since this full-lenghth is characterised by a clear crystallic sound.

That being said, high quality is not enough to make a good album. I can't say Blackguard have no skills. They seem to know how to play and maybe the songs of "Profugus Mortis" can eventually come to life at a live show. However, this record as a whole is rather disappointing, due to its lack of variety but mainly because of the lack of depth and essence. Please dear Blackguard, less drinking and more thinking next time.

Rating: 2.3 out of 10