Regain Records

Ah... the rebirth of Gorgoroth. Introducing this album requires a bit of a history review, so here it goes. Two years ago, in October of 2007, Infernus was somehow kicked out of his own band, the black metal death machine in which he was the only founding member. Gaahl and King (Ov Hell) decided that Infernus had been too lazy, and had not contributed enough to the writing of the music they had been making (the music on the previous two albums having been written almost entirely by King). Gaahl and King continued to tour without Infernus in the band, which Infernus was not going to put up with! Why should he? So like any true warrior of Satanic influence, he got the courts involved and it was decided, rightfully so, that Gorgoroth was Infernus' band, and Gaahl and King were in the wrong to try to kick him out. Infernus, in the mean time, had built up a new band to call Gorgoroth... which, I might add, was more GORGOROTH than Gaahl and King's Gorgoroth, considering the inclusion of PEST and TORMENTOR.

So where we pick up today is a little over half a year after the court declared that Infernus owns Gorgoroth. Pest (my favorite Gorgoroth vocalist) is back on vocals, Tomas Asklund is on drums, and a man going by the name of Bøddel is on bass. Tormentor is now back in the band, as guitarist, though did not contribute to the making of the album. What they have created here is the eighth studio album in the last 15 years, which has much more in common with the old days of Gorgoroth ala Pentagram, Antichrist and Under the Sign of Hell than any of the later material.

Koch Records

In the heyday of Norwegian black metal Satyricon were in the upper ranks of legendary artists, a position shared by bands such as Darkthrone, Burzum, Gorgoroth, Emperor, Ulver, Enslaved and a few others. The first three Satyricon albums, with their epic and unmatched atmospheres of dark, mist-filled night time forests of evil, forbidding mountain fortresses and medieval madness layered by powerful riffs, haunting auras of keyboards, and the occassional folk passage, with the elemental cursed demonic shrieks and rasps of Satyr and thunder of Frost, will always be black metal classics, and some of my personal favorites. With each album they managed to tread away from the beaten path, develop their own unique sound, and all while creating something unforgettable, untouchable, and eternally... magical. Yes, I said magical. It's a very sinister form of magic, but magic nonetheless.

Toward the end of the 90's Satyricon's sound had evolved into something very different than what originally drew in the diehard fans. Well, to be entirely honest, the sound of Satyricon (before they were known as Satyricon) used to be death metal in a style similar to Carcass. But as Satyr joined and others left, they set their sights in a very intentionally black metal direction. Shortly after Nemesis Divina, heralded by many as Satyricon's crowning achievement, the band released two perplexing EPs which were a combination of covers, live songs, remixes, and a few originals. While some of this material was straight forward punishing black metal, other tracks suggested a brave new direction for the band...