Review by Felix on September 9, 2019.

Hell's Headbangers again. Well, it can't get worse than Abysmal Lord, even though the artwork of Necrodual Dimension Funeral Storms, what a title, insults the eye of any beholder with a minimum of esthetical perception. Who paints such an infantile shit and why? Okay, no need to clarify this, let's turn to the music as fast as possible.

This Finnish trio with resounding names like Sagittariuz Perverzor or Vorrtexx Armageddon unleashes a sometimes chaotic, sometimes more or less structured whirlwind of extreme music with prevailing elements of black metal. The nagging of the lead vocalist, for instance, is influenced by the vocal performances on albums such as "Under a Funeral Moon". By contrast, thrashing riffs almost do not show up and we can ignore some war metal elements. But Sadokist add a very vulgar component to their sound and this is sometimes pretty annoying, because they should have focused on more intelligently designed song patterns. The same goes for the guitar leads. Some of them are overly simple, just listen to "Enter the Devil" or "Driven by Disgust" and they sound pretty amateurish. However, there is enough structure to guide the listener through the apocalyptic wasteland.

Despite some competently executed breaks, an album with such a narrow-minded stylistic frame naturally lacks variety and it has not that much in common with most people understand of music. So what? The guys from Northern Europe do their own thing without taking care of the opinion of other dudes. They even surprise with an "epic" piece at the end. "Orgy ov Crime" clocks in after five minutes and offers a reasonable mix of pretty or even extremely fast sequences and a nearly moshing mid-tempo part. The solos are also well integrated. Nevertheless, this album does not enter my private hall of fame. Many songs do not exceed an average level and the running time of less than 30 minutes is hardly evidence of creativity. Moreover, there is another thing that annoys me. The guitars lack heaviness, their basic tone sounds mean, but not voluminous or mighty. The short solos that appear every now and then are okay, they are well embedded and have an alarming effect, but the remaining guitar sound does not meet my expectations. There are more strange sound elements, for example some almost atmospheric tones at the end of "Enter the Devil". I have no clue why the band thought it could make sense to add these somewhat howling sounds to this more or less bestial feast of pure violence. These tones remain a foreign body here.

I could go on with describing the lyrics of promising titles like "Planet of Shit" or "I Will F**k Tonight", but honestly speaking, their philosophical value is probably rather small. So, let's bring it to an end. Sadokist score with verve and conviction, but their music and the production suffer from a lack of intensity, coherence and class. Only recommendable for people who love extreme experiments of average quality.

Rating: 5.5 out of 10

Review by adhlactha on April 20, 2020.

The long-awaited Disillusion album The Liberation didn’t disappoint old fans at all, the band released strong and exceptional material once again. They prepared for it substantially, and the result is complete and mature in every aspect. The mastermind of Disillusion Andy Schmidt even isolated himself in a cabin somewhere in Czech woods to concentrate only on writing. And this brave act was excellently rewarded, because the band’s fan-base accepted it with warm hearts and open minds.

Actually, there wasn’t drastic change of style, but still it’s difficult to declare, that The Liberation is smooth continuation of their previous two albums. Rather it is mix of their earlier music with some new path with no dead ends. There are never closed roads in their music, and with every new album they prove that even the main road can branch off to new directions.

The album is long and well composed, even the order of songs is perfect. Progressive elements are the key point on this record, and melodic parts completely overwhelm you. There’s no need to contemplate about heaviness or stylistic limits. Some songs are classic melodic death examples (like 'Time To Let Go' or 'The Great Unknown'), but their progressive solo moments are based more on heavy metal principle. The songs are melancholic, but with a ray of hope, so the mood is never dark after the listening. Acoustic elements soften the metal foundation, and the use of classical instruments (like cello or trumpet) infuses the whole album with rich and diverse sound. The clarity of sound and the audibility of every instrument is a pure joy for whom the clean sound is important on metal records.

The vocal lines aren’t too prominent, but the emotional singing of Andy is far more significant than classical singing training. Andy sings more in extreme technics, but the clean vocals are beautiful and relaxed, giving some space to enlighten the album, so there’s a good balance between extreme and clean vocals. The choruses are especially catchy, like in classical melodic death metal genre, especially on songs 'A Shimmer In The Darkness' and 'Time To Let Go', but progressiveness and sophisticated technicality can’t give you a momentous feeling to sing along, you need some time for remembering the songs. The album is based on winter and mountain lyrical themes, and in the last song 'The Mountain' it’s emphasized with sound effects (like cold wind) and change of mood (from static classical music passages to aggressive and emotional screams). And this coldness is not about your physical experience, it’s more about suffering and mental struggle.

Disillusion are one of the main members of progressive melodic death metal scene. They have unique and skillful talent of songwriting and originality, as well as attractive and memorable tunes and with such a warm and welcome comeback, I hope we won't need to wait another 13 years for their next release? Hell, let’s pray, not!

Rating: 9.2 out of 10

Review by Adam M on September 24, 2019.

It’s been a while since Disillusion released an album, so I had pretty high expectations when listening to this new recording.  My lofty expectations were pretty much met with the recording even though I think it could be improved upon.  The band serves up similar melodic death metal bliss to their first and best recording Back to Times of Splendour more than the strange direction that Gloria took.  The result is a very vibrant and beautiful sounding work that uses dynamics like an old Opeth recording and to the best extent possible.  There are moments of crushing bliss, but also more subdued elements that make for a varied recording. 

The music is very melodic, but has a very traditional aspect that makes it sound more like the debut than the second album.  It is also different than a lot of albums from the melodic death metal genre because of a distinctive sound that only this band contains.  It is slightly more progressive in nature than many bands from the genre and has more intricate and deep song structures.  The vocalist still sounds somewhat nasal, but this suits the nature of the music quite well.  All in all, the various elements come together to create a nice sounding recording that fits nicely into the band’s discography.  The problem with the album comes out when compared directly to the band’s first album.  This style has thus been done before and better by the same band.  Thus the impact of the album is greatly lessened when taken in the same context as their debut. 

It’s still a great album with a lot of interesting and challenging elements in it, but it doesn’t overtake the best the band is capable of producing.  I really appreciate the return to the original sound of the band and not going out on any weird tangents this time around.  The Liberation is an album melodic death metal fans will undeniably eat up. 

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by adhlactha on April 20, 2020.

The long-awaited Disillusion album The Liberation didn’t disappoint old fans at all, the band released strong and exceptional material once again. They prepared for it substantially, and the result is complete and mature in every aspect. The mastermind of Disillusion Andy Schmidt even isolated himself in a cabin somewhere in Czech woods to concentrate only on writing. And this brave act was excellently rewarded, because the band’s fan-base accepted it with warm hearts and open minds.

Actually, there wasn’t drastic change of style, but still it’s difficult to declare, that The Liberation is smooth continuation of their previous two albums. Rather it is mix of their earlier music with some new path with no dead ends. There are never closed roads in their music, and with every new album they prove that even the main road can branch off to new directions.

The album is long and well composed, even the order of songs is perfect. Progressive elements are the key point on this record, and melodic parts completely overwhelm you. There’s no need to contemplate about heaviness or stylistic limits. Some songs are classic melodic death examples (like 'Time To Let Go' or 'The Great Unknown'), but their progressive solo moments are based more on heavy metal principle. The songs are melancholic, but with a ray of hope, so the mood is never dark after the listening. Acoustic elements soften the metal foundation, and the use of classical instruments (like cello or trumpet) infuses the whole album with rich and diverse sound. The clarity of sound and the audibility of every instrument is a pure joy for whom the clean sound is important on metal records.

The vocal lines aren’t too prominent, but the emotional singing of Andy is far more significant than classical singing training. Andy sings more in extreme technics, but the clean vocals are beautiful and relaxed, giving some space to enlighten the album, so there’s a good balance between extreme and clean vocals. The choruses are especially catchy, like in classical melodic death metal genre, especially on songs 'A Shimmer In The Darkness' and 'Time To Let Go', but progressiveness and sophisticated technicality can’t give you a momentous feeling to sing along, you need some time for remembering the songs. The album is based on winter and mountain lyrical themes, and in the last song 'The Mountain' it’s emphasized with sound effects (like cold wind) and change of mood (from static classical music passages to aggressive and emotional screams). And this coldness is not about your physical experience, it’s more about suffering and mental struggle.

Disillusion are one of the main members of progressive melodic death metal scene. They have unique and skillful talent of songwriting and originality, as well as attractive and memorable tunes and with such a warm and welcome comeback, I hope we won't need to wait another 13 years for their next release? Hell, let’s pray, not!

Rating: 9.2 out of 10

Review by Adam M on September 24, 2019.

It’s been a while since Disillusion released an album, so I had pretty high expectations when listening to this new recording.  My lofty expectations were pretty much met with the recording even though I think it could be improved upon.  The band serves up similar melodic death metal bliss to their first and best recording Back to Times of Splendour more than the strange direction that Gloria took.  The result is a very vibrant and beautiful sounding work that uses dynamics like an old Opeth recording and to the best extent possible.  There are moments of crushing bliss, but also more subdued elements that make for a varied recording. 

The music is very melodic, but has a very traditional aspect that makes it sound more like the debut than the second album.  It is also different than a lot of albums from the melodic death metal genre because of a distinctive sound that only this band contains.  It is slightly more progressive in nature than many bands from the genre and has more intricate and deep song structures.  The vocalist still sounds somewhat nasal, but this suits the nature of the music quite well.  All in all, the various elements come together to create a nice sounding recording that fits nicely into the band’s discography.  The problem with the album comes out when compared directly to the band’s first album.  This style has thus been done before and better by the same band.  Thus the impact of the album is greatly lessened when taken in the same context as their debut. 

It’s still a great album with a lot of interesting and challenging elements in it, but it doesn’t overtake the best the band is capable of producing.  I really appreciate the return to the original sound of the band and not going out on any weird tangents this time around.  The Liberation is an album melodic death metal fans will undeniably eat up. 

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Nekrist on June 28, 2025.

Grafvitnir is a Swedish duo whose most notable characteristic is their use of melodies that fellow Swedish bands like Dissection, Sacramentum, Lord Belial, and a few others established throughout the 90s. Even though Grafvitnir are not offering anything groundbreaking, they've managed to cultivate their own sound despite such prominent and obvious influences.

The most difficult part of reviewing a band like Grafvitnir would be being as objective as possible, considering that their discography hasn't seen many variations in terms of songwriting and production, to the point that many might say, "Just by listening to one of their albums, you've already heard them all." This statement wouldn't be far from the truth, because, as I mentioned earlier, their sound follows very strict parameters that can even be perceived as some sort of "stagnation."

However, none of this means their music can't be enjoyable if you're in the right mood to digest a mass of furious, practically uninterrupted blast beats, fast-paced, slashing riffs with evocative melodies, and a reptilian, acidic voice filled with hatred and misanthropy. "Death's Wings Widespread" was the album that got me hooked on this band's music, alongside with "Obeisance to a Witch Moon." The former is the one that (for me) best encapsulates the formula this Swedish duo has been repeating and polishing since their inception, boasting very memorable and catchy riffs that are also extremely fast and adrenaline-filled. A couple of my favorites are "Inner Void" and "Helvetesnatt." The vocals are one of the characteristics I enjoy most about this band. That inhuman and ferocious sound emanating from the vocal performance is sublime. This record represents one of Mr. Modrius's finest recordings. Lyrically, they explore the sinister aspects of ancient Germanic Spirituality combined with Luciferianism and traditional European Witchcraft that call for joining Odin's Wild Hunt on the way to the Witches' Coven or Samhain. The drums are excellent, but in my opinion, they have a major flaw: they lack power. They could have been a little more present in the mix and not so buried in the sonic chaos that Grafvitnir delivers. The double bass drum is practically inaudible, but the blast beats are very good-sounding after all. A little more variety in the drum performance would have been more than welcome.

It's a fairly solid and compact album. Grafvitnir is a consistent project that has achieved its goal (sometimes with better or worse results), but always remains faithful to creating dark, soulful music that satisfies them, and this is where the apparent monotony and lack of variation throughout their career lies. It may sound as if I'm being harsh and overcritical to the band, but not really. I'm simply very familiar with their music and can clearly see all the aspects worth highlighting, whether positive or negative, within my scope of appreciation.

Grafvitnir is a band I would recommend to those nostalgic for the most pulverizing and enigmatic Swedish melodic black metal. They won't be disappointed with what they find with this great band that roars from those northern latitudes that have contributed so much to the world of metal in all its breadth.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10