Perished - Seid

On today's episode of old Norwegian black metal you might have missed even when you thought you had listened to everything, the host's suggestion looks into a lesser known band with not a lot of releases but a hell of a lot of wit. 

Perished from Hommelvik, only put two full length albums out, a couple of demos and a couple of neat EPs, with Seid being the final but most complete work. In the vein of early Enslaved, Gehenna and Hades, there's even distant death metal riffs sometimes and a good dose of folk / pagan parts.

By members of Bloodthorn, Wurdulak, musicians who played in the band later found spots in other bands after Perished broke up, doing live sessions for the likes of Ragnarok and Whoredom Rife. 

LP re-release of Seid soon on Dusktone, as it has been out of print for about a decade.

Track listing:

1. Storm of Fall Delight

2. Dance of the Elves

3. On Wings of Desire

4. As Water Turns to Ice

5. Forged to Bloodshed

6. Departure of Cosmic Union

7. Untouched by Mortal Life

8. Burning Heart of Ice

Dimmu Borgir - Death Cult Armageddon (2003) Review

The turn of the millenium saw Dimmu Borgir going with orchestral elements, clean production and pumped epicness, full bore. What was originally some murky symphonic black metal elements in the early 90's had now turned into ambitious, grandiose compositions of the most polished sound possible, polarising the fans of the genre and standing even today as one of the most loved / hated bands throughout the years. The first thing to notice about Death Cult Armageddon is how much effort was not put in the cover art (even though the previous album's Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia choice, was decent...), which looks like something something one could make with the most generic editing software, using the most generic fonts possible. Apart from that, Dimmu Borgir kept on from where they had left two years earlier when it comes to music and lyrical content. For the latter, most of the texts in Death Cult Armageddon are quite decent, and all lyricists involved (mainly Silenoz & less, Shagrath) write well. As it was proven later when the band collaborated with the Norwegian National Orchestra, some tracks here and especially "Progenies of the Great Apocalypse" are characteristics of their modern era and are generally solid tracks, appropriate of their own worth. As the track is in the first half of the record, it is part of the better material in Death Cult Armageddon, as later on tracks get really bland and boring, really fast (from "Blood Hunger Doctrine" and on). However, when a riff gets in the spotlight, it does sound great and the combination of symphonic instruments and guitars is great, all the instruments are audible and the combination of vocalists has always been, in my opinion, a positive element of Dimmu Borgir. Death Cult Armageddon has clear weaker points and a couple of filler tracks, yet also a few moments of quality from the band and despite their musical directions, they are all solid musicians. [2.5/5 - Average]

Origin: Norway

Label: Nuclear Blast

Release date: 08.09.2003

Listen: Spotify