Sons Of Northern Darkness (Nuclear Blast~2002)
"The kings at hold / On their thrones, Immortal and invincible / The might lives on." Those words, which are pulled from the song "Tyrants" and are printed alone on the inside back cover of this albumīs booklet, say it all. The black metal gods from Norway have done it again. They still sport the corpsepaint on the album cover, and yeah, they look a little goofy. But I like it. Theyīre sticking with their image and I think itīs cool. No matter what the album cover looks like, itīs the music that makes this a sure contender for album of the year. Some of the great songs include the title track, "Tyrants", "Within The Dark Mind" and "Demonium", which includes some mind-blowing hectic parts and is pure kick-ass metal. I canīt find a weakness on this album. It sounds great. The performances are terrific. The compositions are brilliant. And it all starts with killer riffs. The might definitely lives on.