Eternum- Veil of Ancient Darkness

       I bought this record pretty blindly. Which, to be honest, is not a normal thing for me.  I normally seek out ways to hear an album before I buy it.  This time I took the plunge and I am truly glad I did.  Quite an amazing mix of mid- period Bathory, Morrigan and Poland circa 96- 97 we have here.
       The whole thing starts with "Tyrannos Regnare In Aeternum", which begins with a solid mid 90's polish riff and bleeds into Azgorh's phenomenal rasp.  To be truthful I usually prefer the higher pitched screaming of early Emperor, but there is something so vicious and vile about Azgorh's rasp I am captured.  As we walk through this wonderland of dark northern influenced black metal we are greeted with various peons to occultism, Celtic mysticism, and the call to battle.  The music fits these themes by being a perfect mix of raw 2nd wave BM mixed with epic and powerful movements.  They even get the "viking" style chants right (i.e. something that adds to the mix and doesn't overshadow the metal.)
        The whole viking/ black metal thing is really a tight rope that is exceedingly difficult to walk.  I mean just look at the abomination that is modern folk "metal".  The only bands that have ever truly nailed this style are Bathory, Hades(Norway), Morrigan, and (in my humble opinion) Graveland.  Eternum sounds like a perfect cross section of the four.  The music flows epically.  The synths add to a sense of ancient wonder.  The guitar and drums are powerful and very metal.  This is just seriously well written and great black metal and I will be waiting for the next record with my wallet open!
         Obviously I recommend this record.  In fact,  It will be one of my top three records of the year.  More black metal should sound like this, or there should be less bands... probably the latter.    

Welcome!

I have discovered that I have a lot to say! I am  a metalhead and want to express myself in my interest more.  Here you will find reviews and interviews of records and bands I like.  I will tell you that most of the reviews will probably be positive as I will be buying most of the records I will be reviewing.  I am a fan not a journalist. Most of my reviews will come from the heavy metal genre but I will include non metal favorites occasionally. So there you have it. BE WARNED!