This album, like so many black metal releases, opens with a sample (not sure of the source) that tries to set the stage. It seems to be the prelude to something atmospheric and evil. Instead of atmospheric black metal, Krieg plays quite the opposite. This is raw, noisy, "fuck you" black metal that owes more to the ethos of punk and hardcore than to the cold stylings of Norway or Sweden. Unlike the Scandinavian aesthetic, which usually revolves around repetitive riffing to construct an almost hypnotic feeling, Krieg just pummels the shit out of their instruments in the midst of an utterly chaotic production style. The problem with this is that the guitar riffs are almost impossible to discern in the mix. The drumming overwhelms most of the songs here, and that's a shame, because some of the riffs that we get a glimpse of are downright awesome (to my ears, the opening of "As Humanity Fades" is outstanding). And the vocals are all over the place, too. Undisciplined screams mixed with intimidating snarls with a hint of clean vocals make for a bit of a sonic mess. And I've already mentioned the opening sample, but my biggest gripe with the album is that there are too many samples and interlude tracks. More metal, less movie quotes please. Oh well. I wanted to like this a lot more.
