I read a review on this album prior to listening to it to get a general idea of what to expect. The review discussed this as being a depressive black metal band, but I am not really seeing much of that. Sure there are some elements here and there, but the album as a whole is much too active. It is not nearly morose enough to really be depressive black metal. None of that is to suggest that this band is the next coming of Immortal. The music is typically slower-paced and more atmospheric, but with some decent riffs thrown in here and there. It is a very dark album.The vocals are the main draw here. The vocalist Graasjal emits agonizing and tortured screams for the better part of the album. Every once in awhile he can pull off a Tom Warrior-esque grunt, but he typically does not stray far from the aforementioned shrieking, which serves him well and fits the music.
Some of the songs on the album actually sound a bit more like Norwegian black metal. There is a lot of Mayhem evident in these songs. "The Box" is the best example of this. Other songs feature some surprisingly chilling guitar leads. The lead in "Den Laufstall Zu Brechen..." is spine-tingling.
Overall, this is a pretty decent album. It definitely has a cold and chilling atmosphere, and there is some surprisingly good riffing. It was not what I was expecting, it was better.
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