The band was at a bit of a crossroads on this album. A number of lineup changes occurred and the sound had gone in a significantly more gothic metal direction. For one thing, there is a much larger reliance on keyboards, particularly in the Phantom of the Opera-esque "The World Through Ancient Eyes". The result is a sound that is dark and eerie, but a far cry from what came before in the band's history. Otherwise the band experiments more with classic metal elements at times, including through riffs and solos.
The cover song I mentioned is "Nuns Have No Fun", one of the goofier Mercyful Fate tracks. Mercyful Fate is one of the harder bands to cover, due mostly to the unusual vocal style of King Diamond. Very few bands even attempt the vocals, and of those that do, fewer pull it off. Varathron does not pull off the vocals, but the music is interesting enough. Not a great cover, but not embarrassing either.
This would be Varathron's last release for a few years and that is not terribly surprising given the overall feel. This release sounds almost nothing like the band's earlier stuff, they were just too far gone at this point. This is decent for what it is, but it does not hold up to the band's classic material.
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