Review by Michael on January 13, 2021.

Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz, oh yes. I remember when I bought the album as a young teenager in 1993 and was completely disturbed after the first listening session. But even then this album already fascinated me and even today I still like to listen to this CD again and again. I associate many memories with it, for example a garden party at the neighbors, which ended abruptly after loud playing. But let's get to the actual point.... After a short intro, spoken in demonic words, all hell breaks loose. Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz Norz which means in the Enochian language "All shall be numbered six six six" is an absolutely malicious, dark, disharmonious and ugly milestone in black metal history. Since there was a lot of bad blood between Impaled Nazarene and various Norwegian black metal bands in the early nineties, this album is also a far reaching middle finger towards the northwestern neighbors of the country.

The music sounds like a mixture of ultra nasty war metal, mottled with some grindcore interludes, which are interrupted again and again by sick interludes, which sometimes seem so exaggerated that one doubts the seriousness of the band. The songs are all written in a furious tempo, the drums sound like a machine-gun salvo, the guitars rattle ultra evil through the songs and Mika Luttinen reeks, roars and screams his soul out as if he was the devil himself. Melodies are sparse, but if they are, they are very catchy and gripping, like in 'Condemned to Hell', otherwise the songs are accompanied by a certain chaotic. The sound collages I was talking about are disturbing throughout, either they are animal noises, shrill whistles or something similar, which doesn't really let the listener catch his breath even during these breaks from the actual pieces. Only 'The Dog ("Art of Vagina")' is a melodic interlude, reminiscent of the side project of the guitarist Jarno Anttila , namely Belial. TCNNNN was produced in the Tico-Tico Studio, which was and still is known for other good productions (at that time for example Demigod, Belial, Sentenced and Mythos).

It is difficult to name musical references that already existed at that time, because this kind of music was rather new then. I consider Beherit, Blasphemy or even the already mentioned Belial to be the closest comparisons, maybe Archgoat, which were not beyond the status of a demo band at that time. Impaled Nazarene definitely set a clear dividing line with their album between the traditional black metal of the Norwegian or Swedish scene and their own.This album is definitely a must have for all black metal fans who are not only into Dimmu Borgir or Cradle of Filth, but who are also not averse to chaotic and hateful song structures.

Rating: 9.4 out of 10