Review by Luka on May 3, 2001.

So what do Borknagar have in store for us the fourth time around? I dare not say their most professional, but "Quintessence" is certainly their most likeable album yet. Drowning in soupy synths and amazing melodies, the beautifully crafted songs of "Quintessence" instantly grab the listener’s attention and keep you enthralled straight throughout. There are too many instrument layers here to absorb everything in the first listen, and it’s a pleasure listening to it again and again.

As always, the lyrics are very elaborate but too vague, you’re never certain what the hell he’s singing about. Spiritual dimensions, ruins of the future, strange dreams, the whole supernatural deal... All meaningless squabble if you ask me, we may criticize nu-metal bands for singing about crap and pretending they’re angry and whatever, but at least it’s something relevant to real life, more than I can say for this. A lot of work is spent on the words but I’m never too sure what they’re about or why the hell I should care about it.

The singing is another thing that bothers me, the annoying multi-vocal layers that, when all mixed together, end up sounding like some fucked up choir. The "reputed" singer I.C.S. Vortex (he sings in Dimmu Borgir and Covenant too, I personally think he sucks) tries hard to avoid the traditional black metal rasp but doesn’t do a good job. The singing ends up sounding cheesy as hell, and the studio vocal effects don’t help either.

In the end, the music is the only good thing about "Quintessence". The singer really turns me off and so do the lyrics, hire a new singer or at least sing with out studio effects ‘cuz I would not buy another Borknagar album like this.

Bottom Line: Really awesome melodies try to help, but the vocals really bring everything down.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Review by JD on December 30, 2010.

What band has the musical assaulting fury of thirty 10 megaton atomic bombs, more harsh than the coldest of days in the heart of Antarctica and all that while shredding every other band that is left in their paths with a hardcore attitude? If you would have picked the iconic and brutally explosive Florida’s very own metallic merchants - Obituary... you know your metal.

As Death Metal goes, you cannot get any better or go any harsher than these metallic monsters known as Obituary. They have almost single handedly built the whole idea of the Death Metal scene and will always be the brutal ambassadors for this side of the metal genre. One listen, and it is so clear who is who here. There are many imitators, but none come close to the blood soaked passion and acrid gore infused attack that this band has.

The album has so many good and powerful songs in it, that just saying to anyone to play it from start to finish would be the less time that explanation every single track. It is the best to just say that from the start to the finish of the album, and set the bar high for anyone who wants to beat it. Only the UK’s mighty duo GraVil, the formidable Cannibal Corpse and the iconic Death could lay claim of getting near what the boys of Obituary have put out here.

Obituary has put out a no brainer Death Metal classic that still holds up with any other album put out at any time. They have kept their entrails spattered crown, as they have ended up killing all false metal, naysayers and sacrificing many puny posers to makes sure that their reign is a long one.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9.5
Atmosphere: 9.5
Production: 9.5
Originality:9.5
Overall: 9.5

Rating: 9.5 out of 10