Review by Carl on March 23, 2021.

My fascination with the dungeon synth genre started in the 90's, with a medieval styled interlude on the first Ancient Rites album "The Diabolic Serenades". With me being fascinated by medieval times (the time period, we don't have the restaurant chain here in Europe), it spoke to me, and after discovering the early works of Mortiis, I was sold. Unfortunately, these days the style is being swamped in mediocrity, with sparse leading lights such as Thangorodrim, Fief and Diplodocus, among a few others. And it's between these others that we find Old Sorcery.

The biggest problem I have with a lot of these contemporary dungeon synth artists is that they sound rushed, as if they don't take the time to expand on their music, resulting in short tracks that are over before they even get started. Well, none of that with Old Sorcery here. The shortest piece on this album is a bit under 5 minutes, with the longest clocking in at 13:44. Now that's the way to create some ambience! Old Sorcery takes the time to let the music unfold itself into a sprawling soundscape, where emotion and imagination can run free. Within these lengthy works, there are elements woven throughout to give each track an identity to distinguish it from the others. There's the slowly unfolding opener 'Sorcerer's Dream', wherein the spirit of 70's krautrock and the early works of Klaus Schulze dwells, followed by 'Vaikerruksen Portti', in which a choral keyboard drone gets interwoven with a church organ, with a light Vangelis vibe added. 'A Lost Soul Amid the Listening Trees' gives you an idea what a collaboration between Burzum's Count Grishnack and Mike Oldfield could sound like, 'In a Forest Trapped' sets a moodier atmosphere, and in the album closer we have a dark and droning soundscape with sparse orchestration leading the listener out of the dream-like world of Realms of Magickal Sorrow. The influence of dark ambient is profound throughout, and each track is being unfurled at the appropriate tempo, taking exactly the time needed to set the right mood for each track.

This is of course "mood music", there isn't a guitar riff or, apart from some sparse spoken words, vocal line to be found anywhere on this album. Its main goal is to set an ambience, and that it does in great fashion. The music nowhere sounds rushed or uninspired, the soundscapes are well built up, and there's a wide array of emotion that runs through the music.

Even if this isn't as great as what Mortiis or Lord Wind did back in the 90's, Old Sorcery does deliver the goods in a more than agreeable manner. It's soothing, atmospheric and dark, and I can recommend this to fans of the more atmospheric black metal bands, but those into dark ambient and even 70's krautrock as well. A worthy release indeed.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Nathan on March 19, 2021.

I’ve always kind of felt that the Abbath/Immortal split ended up being beneficial for both sides. It was clear that the hook-laden arena rock stuff was mostly the doing of the former, whereas the remaining members wanted a bit more of a serious and intense thing. Now that they’re separated, they can focus on their respective strengths, and it shows: Abbath’s self-titled debut and "Northern Chaos Gods" are both stronger albums than "All Shall Fall". If you asked me to pick a favorite between those two, though, with a gun to my head I’d probably side with Immortal. I do appreciate the overt accessibility of Abbath and it’s got some killer songs, but overall it does feel a bit more rushed and uneven than "Northern Chaos Gods", which was a purposeful and carefully thought-out torrential downpour of frosty riffs n’ blasts. Immortal may have won the first battle, but the war is far from over, and with Outstrider Abbath sounds pissed and determined to come out of the gate swinging.

That’s the main thing you notice at first listen - Outstrider is harsh, thin and aggressive compared to the rich rumble and easygoing double-bass of the debut. Abbath has squeezed most of the croakiness out of his trademark croak in order to give this some extra bite, and sounds more like a conventional black metal vocalist than he ever has. That might be a turnoff for longtime fans, but don’t worry, you can still tell it’s him, there’s just a bit more prickle in them than usual (could just be a production thing). The riffs feel like they’re attacking you a bit more and tie into one another while doing so, whereas the self-titled debut had more of this “hey here’s some cool riffs I’ve been sitting on for a while” vibe. Outstrider is an album written with focus, direction, and some attention given to the space in between the tracks. Even with the extra dollop of anger and determination here, though, this still retains most, if not all of the inherent catchiness of the riffing. Abbath has a damn good ear for hooks, always has, and it’s basically impossible for him to write unmemorable riffs. The title track, 'Harvest Pyre' and a couple of others have some signature moments that will appease any Abbath/Immortal fan, or anyone who likes catchy melodic black metal.

While it’s pretty clear who the brains and the driving force behind this band is, it would be unfair to downplay the contributions of the other musicians, particularly the drummer. Ukri Suvilehto is a young gun playing with some pretty big dogs for a 24-year-old, but god DAMN this dude has groove. He does this thing where he plays a catchy rock beat for the first verse, and then the second time that it comes in he plays the same beat with double-kick underneath it and oh my god it sounds absolutely delicious. The composition of the drumming in 'Harvest Pyre' seriously gives me chills. It’s not showoffy or anything, it’s just exactly what it needs to be and has equal parts swagger and clinical precision. In short: this guy is good. Better than the last guy by far, and I sincerely hope he’s made the lineup permanently. This dude was drumming live for Before the Dawn when he was fucking 18! The extra hits and fills he can fit into a riff that the last guy couldn’t play a major role in Abbath stepping up the intensity on this album.

It’s incredibly ironic, but it looks like Abbath improved by changing their sound to be more like Immortal. Going back to more conventional black metal as opposed to wiffly pop-black serves the weaker, less memorable tracks on the album much better. The standout singles are still the standout singles, and there’s a couple of tracks that are clearly better than the others on Outstrider, in all fairness, but I prefer a backdrop of aggression to a backdrop of catchiness that’s slightly less catchy than the catchiness you just heard. As far as the heavyweights are concerned, Abbath is leading the pack in 2019. Hopefully the dude makes good progress in his recovery so he can get back on the road soon.

Rating: 8.6 out of 10

Review by Carl on March 23, 2021.

My fascination with the dungeon synth genre started in the 90's, with a medieval styled interlude on the first Ancient Rites album "The Diabolic Serenades". With me being fascinated by medieval times (the time period, we don't have the restaurant chain here in Europe), it spoke to me, and after discovering the early works of Mortiis, I was sold. Unfortunately, these days the style is being swamped in mediocrity, with sparse leading lights such as Thangorodrim, Fief and Diplodocus, among a few others. And it's between these others that we find Old Sorcery.

The biggest problem I have with a lot of these contemporary dungeon synth artists is that they sound rushed, as if they don't take the time to expand on their music, resulting in short tracks that are over before they even get started. Well, none of that with Old Sorcery here. The shortest piece on this album is a bit under 5 minutes, with the longest clocking in at 13:44. Now that's the way to create some ambience! Old Sorcery takes the time to let the music unfold itself into a sprawling soundscape, where emotion and imagination can run free. Within these lengthy works, there are elements woven throughout to give each track an identity to distinguish it from the others. There's the slowly unfolding opener 'Sorcerer's Dream', wherein the spirit of 70's krautrock and the early works of Klaus Schulze dwells, followed by 'Vaikerruksen Portti', in which a choral keyboard drone gets interwoven with a church organ, with a light Vangelis vibe added. 'A Lost Soul Amid the Listening Trees' gives you an idea what a collaboration between Burzum's Count Grishnack and Mike Oldfield could sound like, 'In a Forest Trapped' sets a moodier atmosphere, and in the album closer we have a dark and droning soundscape with sparse orchestration leading the listener out of the dream-like world of Realms of Magickal Sorrow. The influence of dark ambient is profound throughout, and each track is being unfurled at the appropriate tempo, taking exactly the time needed to set the right mood for each track.

This is of course "mood music", there isn't a guitar riff or, apart from some sparse spoken words, vocal line to be found anywhere on this album. Its main goal is to set an ambience, and that it does in great fashion. The music nowhere sounds rushed or uninspired, the soundscapes are well built up, and there's a wide array of emotion that runs through the music.

Even if this isn't as great as what Mortiis or Lord Wind did back in the 90's, Old Sorcery does deliver the goods in a more than agreeable manner. It's soothing, atmospheric and dark, and I can recommend this to fans of the more atmospheric black metal bands, but those into dark ambient and even 70's krautrock as well. A worthy release indeed.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by criscool623 on March 20, 2021.

Before talking about this album, let me introduce you to my perspective of the things: Heathen is catalogued as a technical thrash metal band, and the only "real" technical thrash band that I have listened to is Toxik; Toxik is a band with a very frenetic, fast as hell and complex performing style (proof of this is their opera prima "World Circus"), so when I first listened to Heathen, I was looking forward to hearing something similar, something that blew my mind due to the complexity of the music. Other bands as Megadeth and Artillery have made some technical stuff without being catalogued as such, so I thought "dang it! Heathen should be something really astonishing!". This background made the final product didn't fulfil my expectations in the end.

Talking about the riffs, they're NOT technical AT ALL; instead, they are mostly made out of tremolo picking and power chords with really few variations, which kind of disappointed me due that if everyone is labelling the band as technical thrash, there must be more effort in their riffs. The only riff that I considered sort of technical was the main riff from 'Worlds End'; it's the most "varied" riff of the album and made me think that this is the kind of riffs that should prevail more in the album (dang it, I repeated several times the word "riff").

Now, ignoring the genre label, is it a bad album? I'd like to say no, but the truth is that I didn't enjoy it as I wanted.

I felt the songs insipid and with no much grace. With no identity. Exchangeable between them. And it's sad because the most recognisable and enjoyable song is a cover. Yes, A COVER! The rest of the songs feel like a rip-off of "Bonded By Blood" or even "Kill'em All", but lighter. The repetitiveness of the drum rhythms and structures is notorious and make the album feel as devoid of strength and power. Also, the guitar distortion does not help very much, as it sounds more like a speed metal performance rather than thrash.

However, opposite to most of the albums that I have "destroyed", I found some good things on this album.

The voice is very good. David Godfrey's voice is different to most of the vocal styles that predominated back in those days in the thrash scene; Joey Belladona's and this were different in this aspect, which feels like a fresh air blow amid several aggressive and harsh vocals. Another good aspect are the solos. Altus and Piercy showed their shredding skills since their first release and is a strong point to the music. It's a delight to the ears listening to such talented guitar players.

To finish, I noticed something curious. 'Breaking The Silence' is another of the few enjoyable songs for me, but mainly due that it sounds like a kind of proto-power metal song thanks to the guitar melodies and the voice. I know, back in those days, the first "Keeper of the Seven Keys" was already released at that time, but power metal was not completely developed then, so this song feels like one of the first songs of the genre. Check it out and prove it for yourself.

To conclude, Breaking the Silence is a personal deception. It's infinitely inferior to its successor album as it feels powerless, repetitive and insipid. However, the reason why I don't give a worse rate to it is because it's a more speed metal-oriented album, and as I'm not very into this genre, I feel unable to destroy it completely. I recommend it to the fans of this genre; maybe you can find something memorable in it. Breaking the Silence is an album that I will possibly never listen to again; it's nothing special for me and I prefer listening to another kind of stuff (such as their later full-length release).

Rating: 6 out of 10

Review by Felix on February 9, 2020.

1987 is long ago. The year saw a military coup in Burundi, Ronald Reagan had reached retirement age but played President and Greta Thunberg was less than a vague thought in a hopefully not warmed up galaxy. Thrash / speed metal was still young, and Heathen’s debut presented an over-averagely melodic kind of this fascinating style. The album consisted of seven own compositions and a cover. So far, so good. But due to whatever reason, these dudes thought it would be a good idea to present their edition of Sweet’s “Set Me Free” and this choice showed that there was no clear line between the establishment and the band. This fact hurt my juvenile “thrashing outlaw pride” and, even worse, the number sucked. Thus, the nadir of Breaking the Silence is obvious, but what about the other side of the quality scale?

Heathen had a knack for cool riffs and the debut shows this feature impressively. A very good example kicks off “Open the Grave”, a song that unites all velocities of thrash metal after a mid-tempo beginning. It’s a dynamic headbanger with a nearly perfect mix of melodic and metallic elements, although its silent break with the dreamful guitar would not have been necessary. The voice of David Godfrey also finds the balance. His voice does not mirror brutality, but he cannot be blamed for a half-hearted performance as well. He does not fascinate with an overdose of charisma, but he gives all that he got and that’s what can be expected; everything else is a stroke of luck. Anyway, let’s get back to the music itself. (Not only) the A side of the vinyl is dominated by clearly defined, speedy guitars and up-tempo drumming. “Pray for Death” and “Goblin’s Blade” deliver very solid and robust lines, the guitar work reveals a certain affinity to early Metallica. “Death by Hanging” puts the two aforementioned songs in the shade due to its immediately memorable chorus and this means that the songs of the entire A side formed a strong unit.

The production offers a prototypical eighties sound. The guitar tone does not lack sharpness, the vocals are on a par with the instrumental performance and the overall picture of the sound is neither voluminous nor flat. However, the mix was and still is good enough to make songs like the title track to a very positive listening experience. (And I am speaking of a truly positive thing, not of a positive pregnancy test which is sometimes not that positive.) Its chorus glitters with a profound heaviness, the instrumental part surprises with strong melodies and all different sections go hand in hand. Yes, it might be that every metal track is a saviour after four minutes of torture called “Set Me Freeee-eeee” (this crappy chorus!), but we don’t need to discuss this here. The energetic “World’s End” combines rasping guitars with catchy sections once again and the closer crosses the finishing line without showing any signs of serious weaknesses. Heathen probably did not pen an ingenious work and presumably it is no coincidence that nobody picked out this album for a review in the last five and a half years. Nevertheless, it is still worth listening and I am sure that most friends of Forbidden, Testament or Vio-lence will share my point of view. Only the opinion of Reagan, Thunberg and the generals of Burundi is not known.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Felix on March 20, 2021.

Bewitched's second album is as catchy as its title. Pentagram Prayer turns the listener on with a couple of highly effective choruses which leave their mark in a dominant way. I strongly recommend you to find out the special moments of this full-length. Anyway, I would like to begin with some general statements.

Bewitched commute between rarely appearing traditional sections, for example at the beginning of 'Demondawn', and speed metal eruptions. The band has an affinity for fast-paced rhythms and it makes no secret of this fact. Nevertheless, the Swedish formation does not appear one-dimensional. Among other things, the short blues part, which shows up at the end of 'Sacrifice to Satan' demonstrates their interest in other styles. Fortunately, the group does not over-estimate the relevance of external influences. The abrasive guitars mostly feature typical metallic lines and the band's unerring instinct for explosive arrangements guarantees a dynamic overall impression. Not to mention the dark aura of the album that constitutes another important component. I confess that the atmospheric title track is nothing else but a (rather senseless) sinister outro, but the riffs of the eleven regular songs possess the right amount of negativity. The hostile vocals of Vargher and Blackheim point in the same direction. However, the guitar work shapes the album and the pieces have an exciting flow. The riffing is smooth yet somehow dangerous at the same time. Bewitched do not need an arsenal of nuclear weapons in order to kill a lot of people. A very well sharpened knife is their first choice.

Although the (mid-paced) New Wave of British Heavy Metal seems to be an inspiration for the sound of Bewitched, the band develops its full force during the fast songs. 'Hellcult Attack' celebrates an orgy of sharp riffs that meet a hyperactive yet precise drummer and the chorus crowns their cooperation. Listen closely to the barked "Attack! Attack! Attack!", it expresses the power of an entire genre. The album includes a lot of highlights, but this masterpiece of elegantly performed thrash / speed metal stands definitely out. Nevertheless, the suddenly exploding chorus of 'Beastchild' also deserves the highest praise in view of its intensity, effectiveness and its phenomenal speed metal melody. Put another way, there are no downers on Pentagram Prayer. Those of you who only feel fine as long as they have a reason to feel bad will be disappointed. This album is just too strong to satisfy the needs of pessimists. Only the senseless intro of 'Night Stalker' sucks. Of course, women can behave very strangely. But according to my Middle European education, I guess violence is no solution. Anyway, this stupid intro of five seconds length is just a minor flaw and does not hurt the convincing overall impression.

The sound of the album emphasizes the guitars. Its traditional appearance is furnished with an overdose of power. Well, the bass guitar ekes out a rather humble existence. But I do not care about this. The technical implementation of the songs kicks ass and puts their aura in the right light. Bewitched perform their pieces like the less nasty version of their compatriots of Nifelheim. Although their sound does not possess the same amount of filth, the songs breathe the same spirit. Long story short, Pentagram Prayer is aggressive, snotty, and it shines with an amazing amount of gripping guitar lines. Speed metal fans will love it and open-minded traditionalists should give it a try as well.

Rating: 7.7 out of 10