Gorgoroth - Incipit Satan (2000) Review

Album | Incipit Satan
Country | Norway
Genre | Black Metal
Label | Nuclear Blast

Incipit Satan is one of the most popular Gorgoroth albums and has helped a lot to their worldwide and permanent exposure all these years, as a follow-up of a great legacy and a couple of wrong turns, to be fair. This fifth full length by the band was released at the dawn of the new millenia and it's the first to feature almighty Gaahl as a ful ltime vocalist, as well as the insertion of King ov Hell, or simply King, to the bass. The album is dedicated to Grim, or Erik Brødreskift, (their drummer in Under the Sign of Hell and The Tormentor EP) who had died a year before from drug overdose.

Gorgoroth had shown signs of attraction to the industrial sample noise a bit in their bland album Destroyer, which was released in 1998. One could guess that a logical continuation of the band would be to attach these sounds fully to their music and while they didn't exactly do it, Incipit Satan has the industrial element a little more strongly. The opening, self-titled track has such a part, as well as the second "A World to Win", even though their main body is basically quite grinding. "Will To Power" is fully instrumental and very close to what one would call dark ambient / noise / industrial, having a minimal and sweet feel.

The record features clean vocals by both Infernus and Gaahl. The fifth track "An Excerpt of X" was completely composed by Infernus and he does a certain type of a narrating voice, in a composition where his sorrowful middle-paced style, is naturally dominating. There are well known lines in that track, used as a bridge between the attacking "Unchain my Heart" and the primitive "Ein Eim Av Blod Og Helvetesild". Gaahl sings in clean voice on "Litani til Satan" which and "When Love Rages Wild in My Heart", both of them being very easy listening and almost rock sounded in some moments.

With their second effort in the roster of Nuclear Blast, the band has managed to clean their production into a sterile and acceptable sound, making them even more harmless. Slowly and fully stepping into the mainstream, with Incipit Satan they became the band everyone can deal with, losing their once personal spirit and distinction from the rest of the scene. Even the track titles "Unchain My Heart" and "When Love Rages Wild In My Heart" suggest a soft and naive emotional approach and had me laughing the first time I read them. Still, I believe the crazy piano intro in "Unchain My Heart" and the whole song in general, is a standout for the album.

Musically, it seems like Infernus still has the upper hand in the compositional process over King / Gaahl. I prefer it a lot over Under the Sign of Hell and Destroyer, especially in tracks like "Incipit Satan", which is more than solid. The new characteristics that were introduced by the band did not fully fall to place, even though the outcome generally works fine, maintaining a very basic point of stability. Incipit Satan doesn't deliver the same amount of rawness and hate as the name of Gorgoroth carries, it contains a couple of nice moments but nothing more than that, really. The momentum built by it's intense tracks is counterbalanced and destroyed by it's smoother side.

While I don't consider this record bad, I strongly believe that it is an average offering by the band. Nonetheless, the track "Incipit Satan" has grown to be one of Gorgoroth's trademarks and it depicts the band's style when into the spotlight, including new ideas in such a way that the fans won't possible hate them. I would prefer more ferocity and less romantic poetry from them and I can only stick to two or three tracks off the whole album, the ones I fould cool and memorable. It is by now sure that the brilliance of their first record will never be surpassed.

DAMAGE: 6/10

Moonblood & Deathspell Omega - Sob A Lua Do Bode / Demoniac Vengeance (Split, 2000) Review

Moonblood & Deathspell Omega "Sob A Lua Do Bode / Demoniac Vengeance"

2000, End All Life Productions

Listening Needs

Both of these bands have their own popularity in the scene and they are respected by many, for their ideological stability and musical consistency, with releases way above average each. This union took place thirteen years ago and it was one of the last official Moonblood releases before they disbanded. Of course, all of us know the path Deathspell Omega have followed since then and we are very pleased about it.

Even if the official copies were limited to vinyls only, some other distros printed bootleg CDs of it and i happen to own one of them. Kris Verwimp was the one that designed the spectacular art of the Moonlbood cover, a famous illustrator for metal bands. The split contains four Moonblood and three Deathspell Omega songs, lasting a little bit over fourty six minutes. I always have high hopes for quality bands like these and once again i was not let down.

The ceremony begins with the Moonblood side, which contains, to me, some of the best songs they ever recorded. The production is deliberately as dirty as it should be to give the appropriate feeling, and shrieked vocals combined with yells and screams make the tracks even more obscure than they were with the freezing instrumentation. Some of my favourite black metal riffs are contained here, and all the songs are amazing, if you are in the mood. The known habit of black metal artists to wander around forests (which is often mocked by everyone) aches in these tracks, and it wakes the urge inside you to do it yourself. "A Silent Dream of Impurity" and "I Hail The Night" are my favourite Moonblood songs and "Forgotten Spells In The Forest" is right behind them. The titles and lyrics are quite graphic and have become a cliche today because of the repetition, but no one reaches the level of these two guys.

We continue, as the Deathspell Omega side rises. It is definitely straight forward like most of the french bands back then, with very nice variations and riffology. It gives away a bit of the majestic sound they would produce some years later, but it is not fully shaped by that time. They can be described as the LLN descendants, with about the same sound but extremely improved musicianship. Three solid songs showing the first steps of this band, a must for the collectors.

If i was to compare the two sides, i'd definitely go with Moonblood. Their stuff here are mindblowing, so good that they make the mighty Deathspell Omega sound opaque. I enjoy the whole split and it has always been in my playlist, because of the effort these two bands have put into it. The fact that i prefer the one band over the other, doesn't mean that i don't like them both, a great collaboration that every black metal fan should listen.

DAMAGE: [8.0/10]