Sacrificium Carmen : "Ikuisen Tulen Kammiossa"

Much like Arch Goat, when you are serious about bringing the darkness you do not have to rely on blast beats to sound evil it just oozes out of the speakers which happens here . These guys are from Finland, but are not as raw as even some of the bigger black metal bands like Horna, whose lead singer contributes vocals in places.They sound more like the first wave of black metal bands than they do Darkthrone. They trash right out of the opener into a mean machine that would inspire moshing the like no other black metal band in recent memory does. Their guitar solos hit the mark and they display a fine set of chops on each instrument.The gradually become more feral, allowing the guitars to control the tone of the song. Which gives them a much punchier sound than if they just defaulted to tremolo picking.

 They have more in common with a band like Inquisition than they do their country men Horna. The riffs have their own melodic pulse. "Nemesis" starts with both more epic mood as well as more feral, the latter winning out at they devolve into rapid fire blast beats. The vocals are generally a dry mid range rasp though at times are layered by a lower death metal growl. The more epic half time beat is put to good use . Time and time again this band proves that faster is not always better as their mid-paced stomping riffs carry the most kick. Some blast beats even cause middle sections of some songs to fall away into the blur of white noise many of these bands operate in. Fast is done right when it enters the fray on more of "Haunting the Chapel" feel. The more stiff punk like snare, irks me slightly. They do end up catching a thrashing groove on "Julman san" that still holds the ambiance, despite the fact the screams are throw out in a hurried staccato cadence more like punk vocals.


 They close the album with the melodic riffing that doesn't compromise the intensity of their attack. The drummer is no one trick pony while capable at double bass and blast beats he doesn't rely on them and knows have to create catchy grooves. This album caught me by surprise and turned out to be a much more melodic undertaking than I thought it would be going into this. I'll round this up to a 9, some of the punk snare tapping and insistence on play too fast for their own good is a pitfall many black metal bands fall into. These guys make songs that stand on their own two feet and are not trying to blast by you in a blur even half the time. This sets them apart from the hundred of black metal bands that show up in my in-box. This album comes out the day before Halloween on Saturnal Records.