Many of the things I might harp on other bands for such as excessive blast beats, I allow Gorgoroth to get away with. The reason is well they are Gorgoroth. I don't say that meaning they are Gorgoroth so they can do whatever they damn well please, but in the sense they have perfected their sound which encompasses that. There are things I go into any Gorgoroth album with hesitance about. One being that Infernus is the only original member. But he has a vision for their sound. I could really careless that Pest got kicked out of the band as I feel Ghaal's moment with the band can not be touched. They were the right people together at the right time.
The album opens with a song that has an almost classical under current hidden in the tremolo picked guitar. They let up on the speed soon after with the more deliberate and seething "Dionysian Rites". By the third song it's evident they are playing it slightly safer than say Marduk did on their last one. They know what is expected and operate under if it's not broke don't fix it. Though the guitar is more polished and the neo-classical influence that keep shining through the gritty veneer brings a more melodic tone to the guitar work. Lyrically there are no "Carving a Giants" on the album, they revert to a lot of shout outs to Satan. Which done in such a blatant manner makes me suspect as to how heart felt it is. This is the singer's first shot with the band . He hails from Triumfall and is under the shadow of Ghaal. I don't hear his personality as much as I hear this is what a singer on a Gorgoroth album should sound like.
There is a classic metal chug right from the 80s on "Come the Night". These songs teach all the black metal bands out there writing nine minute plus songs you can get your point across with better placed riffs in much less time. Is this black metal when the riffs sometimes sound more along the lines of something from"Painkiller"? The is questionable, but it is powerful. The guitar on this album can't be praised enough, it makes up for the weaker lyrics. Sonically every thing on this album sounds as good or better than any of their other albums. It could be argued that the songwriting is also sharper even though it is in many ways more straight forward.
The main thing that rages in "Rage" is the sweeping guitar. The drumming is on point as well but it's pushed further back in the mix with the vocals as the only thing that cuts through the massive wall of guitar. Some times this more classic metal feel does lean to heavily on what has already been done, but there are enough elements of their sound to blur this fact from the forefront of your mind.In some ways this might be the most mainstream Gorgoroth album yet, but thats not a diss, just a testament to how finely honed of a metal machine this is. This is not to say they have turned into Behemoth. There is enough blasphemous hatred to appease most of their older fans who are willing to move past the Ghaal days and Pest days for that matter. The album closes with brief but hefty "Awakening" which seals the deal for me so I'll round it up to a 9 and see how it grows on me.
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