Review by Felix on June 30, 2026.

Despite the legions of different sub-genres, I guess we have a few features that every metal fan appreciates. The music should be intensive and energetic, powerful and – in varying degrees – furious. In terms of black metal, all these attributes should be taken to the extremes, as long as we do not talk about the genre's aberrations such as depressive black metal, suicidal black metal, kindergarten black metal and all this nonsense. Morgal from Finland do not want to cruise through these wastelands of modified black metal. Their aim is the destruction of all harmonies within the more or less traditionally given frame of the genre. There is just one (not so) little problem. Sometimes the music seems to control the musicians, not vice versa. But channeling the quintessence of Satan is a task black metal musicians should be able to manage (in contrast to Abigor) and this means that energy is no positive aspect if it creates a chaotic overall impression. Songs like "Goddess Of Death" are a borderline case. They try to hide their structure as good as possible and the blast beats reinforce the impression of a temporary hullabaloo. At the end of the day, it is not impossible to decode them, but maybe Morgal would be well advised to have a closer focus on less critical contours.

Ironically, the album starts pretty mild with a calm intro and soft guitar tones at the beginning of "Stormchaser". However, it goes without saying that this is only the calm before the storm the opener's title mentions. The following "Tales Of Woland" also has never heard about the term prissiness and its jagged guitar lines chop everything in a matter of minutes. Here, if not before, it gets definitely obvious that the dudes of Morgal have problems to tame their raging inner beasts. Nevertheless, this song also holds expressive, almost triumphant parts and nearly thrash metal compatible, very cool guitar sounds. A good piece, no doubt about it, and not the only one of "The Seventh Circle". Anyway, the material shows that Morgal cannot challenge the big animals of their national black metal scene. "Blessed In Hell" mixes somewhat primitive machine gun drums and guitars with another infusion of chaotic elements and this is somehow interesting, but pretty far away from the class bands like Azaghal or Horna stand for.

The noisy production goes hand in hand with the material, because it also contributes to the impression of a somehow disorganized event. The guitars appear aggressive and untypical for the genre due to their comparatively light sound. The drums are okay, the lead vocalist does not make big mistakes and the bass has been forgotten. I am not sure whether this is really the mix the band wanted. One can get used to it, but it does not really create a black metal feeling in my humble opinion. On the other hand, the formation does not lack passion and maybe my sense for partially barbaric black metal is underdeveloped. One thing is for sure, the Fins are not interested in commercial triumphs with their kind of metal and this is something I cherish a lot. But I cannot ignore that their tracks lack individuality. Thus, I am not overly sad as the last tones of the mind-bogglingly intense yet not very expressive closer fade away. "The Seventh Circle", this is my conclusion, is an album for people who like it very narrow-minded, somehow special and stubborn at the same time. It leaves me more or less confused, because I don't say that it is bad, but I also cannot recommend it whole-heartedly.

Rating: 6.7 out of 10