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Straight-up Norwegian Black Metal is what Taake offers up here — there is no bullshit, no frills, no keyboards, no female vocals, just incredible melodic Black Metal from the school of Darkthrone, (early) Satyricon, (early) Emperor, and other second wave Black Metal luminaries. You might well be thinking "ahh crap not another Darkthrone clone" but you'd be wrong my friend; this is Darkthrone influenced in that it is straight up, riff-based Black Metal, but Taake have their own brand of memorable riffs and epic melodies to deliver a sound that is both familiar and unique enough to stand them apart from the crowd.

Taake is pretty much a one-man band driven by Hoest (the rest of the band seems to change frequently with no other long term members), and this is the debut album Nattestid Ser Porten Vid, an album filled with mid to fast-paced Black Metal overflowing with melody and awe inspiring riffs. Hoest has an excellent sense of melody and infuses every track on Nattestid... with both crunchy urgent riffs and soaring, epic northern melodies that will stick firmly in your mind long after the disc is back on your shelf. The music is at times thrashy and punky, sometimes folksy, and other times classically grandiose, full of variety and dynamic, and always interesting, keeping you engaged and looking forward to what Taake will throw at you next; you just need listen to track VII to go from a furious headbanging opening into some of the most soaring and epic riffery you'll ever hear, all topped off with some superbly complementary drumming throughout its almost ten minute length. Hoest's vocals are a fairly standard Black Metal screech, but he has that ability, shared by the best of the genre, to provide variation and even sing within his screaming. He occasionally makes use of some excellent rich clean tones as well, most notably on the opening track, lending it a strong narrative sense between harsh passages, and it's a pity they aren't used more frequently. The production is very good and reminds me of In the Nightside Eclipse but with a bigger lower end, as the bass is audible (and often very interesting, with track IV having some especially notable basslines) and the guitars sound is fuller and not as needle thin as that album, although it is still as harsh and cold as a Norwegian winter.

Nattestid Ser Porten Vid is a true tour de force of melody and song writing. There isn't a single track that doesn't possess a plethora of excellent riffs, and there are no dead spots on the album where it lapses into ambient or acoustic interludes, it's just non-stop top shelf Black Metal that is executed with a passion that comes across clearly through the songwriting. Anyone who considers themselves a fan of Black Metal should immediately add this album to their collection if they haven't already as it is a completely risk-free blind purchase.