Review by Felix on February 18, 2025.

Werwolf is the dude who runs the Finnish project Satanic Warmaster and I hope he allows me to start with some words for a legendary Norwegian artist. Dear Fenriz, "Old Star", when will you realize that you can send "Eternal Hails" to an "Astral Fortress" that "Beckons Us All" as many and as long as you like – your most influential masterpieces are the works from "Ablaze in the Northern Sky" (I don't like it very much, but that's another story) to "Transilvanian Hunger"? Especially the latter has inspired legions of following artists and Werwolf is one of them. So let's open the curtain to his cosy living room (see artwork) and listen what the (war-)master has done.

Right from the start, Werwolf leaves no doubt that he loves to create bitter and grim sounds. He picks up and continues the aesthetics of Darkthrones Transylvanian experience. The strict and diabolic opener defines the direction. This piece and "Harken the Bells of Damnation" present the first highlights of the album. Of course, one can discuss the overdose of keywords in the titles of the songs ("I Inhale The Cruelty Of Winter's Breath" or "Behold The Infernal Kingdom Of Hell"), but one cannot debate about the quality of the linear tracks. They take a straight road while reflecting the (positive) stubbornness of the artist. Breaks are useless, one can vary the genre-typical melody lines by one semitone and that's it, right? Even tempo changes do not affect the character of the songs. But despite this comparatively one-dimensional approach, I cannot confirm a lack of excitement. This form of utterly malicious black metal just never gets stale. Yes, Werwolf does not score with innovate or highly creative material, but he acts competently and does not copy the lines or riffs of other formations. It sounds similar and familiar, of course, but he has not produced a slavish imitation. And, by the way, he stays true to himself.

While the fantastic "I Inhale The Cruelty Of Winter's Breath" lives up to its name with full force, the shortest track "Lord Of Blood And Darkness (Der Drachenprinz)" seems to be the soundtrack for a long hike through the autumnal Finnish forests. The keyboards sets its first and impressive exclamation mark in this instrumental and it gets obvious that Werwolf's constantly vicious vocals have a significant influence on the character of the other songs. Anyway, the relaxing and majestic of "Lord Of Blood…" remains an exception. In many moments, Exultation Of Cruelty harkens back to cult albums such as "Pure Holocaust" and while doing so, Satanic Warmaster give us the pleasant feeling to listen to honest black metal without any modern bullshit. Even the production does not sound like a new one from 2024. It just offers dense guitars and the devilish voice. By contrast, the drums have to struggle in order to be heard somewhere in the background, the bass is probably there, but no one knows where. Who cares? Exultation Of Cruelty is an amazing work with seven tracks which exude the bestial odour of true or even trve (haha) black metal from every pore… too bad that an eighth track is following. The closer is not just the closer, it marks the one and only downer at the same time. Its acoustic intro flows into boring, slowly moving lines. This piece is not just much too long, it also lacks substance. Werwolf should have stopped after the first 46 minutes.

But the good news is that the closer does not mark the end of this release. The double CD version offers a raw mix of the original work with a slightly different track list and here "A Dead Rose For A Dying World" is missing. Coincidence, intention or miracle? Either way, the two exclusive songs of the raw version should have been taken on the regular edition as well. "Burning The Holy Temple" is an instrumental with sporadic, gloomy keyboard lines. Its mid-tempo sections remind me of Bathory's "In Nomine Satanas", but the rapid mid-part tells a more aggressive story. "Orkreich" is a trip to the dungeon where the synthesizers await artists who love to play primitive melody lines. It starts very medieval and a bit boring, but it is able to develop its full aroma the longer it lasts. This would have been the better closer for the original album. Apart from the different track lists, I don't really see a reason for the second CD. It is ten percent rawer, if at all. But okay, it also does not do any harm to a release I can recommend to everybody who loves to feel the force of primordial black metal again and again. I just do not know if Fenriz still belongs to this group of music consumers.

Rating: 8.3 out of 10

Review by Jeger on December 17, 2024.

The prolific Satanic Warmaster has been a more-than-prominent force within the fabled Finnish black metal scene - paving the way - ever-astute in his knowledge of what constitutes the genuine BM experience. Properly steeped in controversy and never flinching in his Satanic worldview, mastermind Werwolf has been the voice for what is so much more than a genre of music since the beginning: a mindset and a life code. And for those of us who follow the pathway under the Black Mark, Satanic Warmaster's music has been the thematic track  to our operation.

In 2022, Satanic Warmaster released Aamongandr, which is of a masterclass, and the task of following up such an opus is no easy feat, but one that I'm sure Werwolf has tackled with zeal. Now, as the annual turns its cursed page over to the year anew, SW has unveiled its seventh full-length studio LP under the banner of Werewolf Records.

In this new chapter, you can expect something a bit different - an engineering reversion. However, the melodies are still racing, the rhythms are swiftly galloping and the thunder echoes through storm clouds that rain unholy blood into chalices of Satan's imbibing. True Finnish black metal through and through. Few artists are doing it better these days, and Exultation Of Cruelty stands as an effigy of what BM sounded and felt like many years ago, from its melodious majesty down to its overtly wicked aesthetic and of course its gritty production. 'Harken The Bells Of Damnation' - ignited under lightning's strike and then streamlining through gauntlets of scaling riffs and driving blast-beats, while the following track, 'As Blood Snarls A Macabre Silhouette', conveys a slower mid-tempo'd type of savory vibe with soldierly rhythms and groovy passages accented by ethereal overlays. When compared to Satanic Warmaster's previous record, Exultation Of Cruelty is a modest album, not quite raw, just rougher around the edges.

Werwolf is not breaking any ground here, nor any barriers. Exultation Of Cruelty is a textbook Finnish black metal record - exactly what those of us who may have been taken aback by the dynamics of Aamongandr were hoping for. Personally, I wouldn't liked to have seen Satanic Warmaster proceed further down evolution's path, instead of reverting back to a baser level of black metal. Definitely some recorded-in-a-dingy-basement vibes here.

To embark on a most cruel journey and to behold the power of death so ultimate are the themes here. A sound as decaying as our dying world: rotten, decompositional and grimy. It irks me… To hear comprehensive and explosive album cuts like 'Behold The Infernal Kingdom Of Hell' set to such a dry buzz. Oh what could have been. You've got to be in the mood for this one; an exclusive experience that harkens back to the early '90's way of doing things, and if you're anything like me, you've grown weary of this particular approach. If I had a fucking dollar for every black metal promo I've received that describes an album as something out of the early second wave, I wouldn't be rich, but I'd be able to buy myself something real nice. Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate stripped-down BM, but I feel like Exultation Of Cruelty is one of those "hey look! I'm still black metal as fuck" efforts at redemption, even though there's no need for reconciliation whatsoever. Decent album, just nothing to write home about…

Rating: 7 out of 10