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It's hard to believe it's been 12 years already since Nazxul's last full-length, Iconoclast, was released, with a split and EP following the next year. Well, it was worth the wait. Irkalla blends speedy, heavy, unrelenting black metal and a great cold, haunting and sometimes depressing atmosphere. The band has struck a nice balance between pedal-to-the-metal, fist-in-the-air breakneck-speed music and much slower, creepy passages filled with dark melodies that can make the room feel a little chilly. This stuff is busy, wall-to-wall sound and each listen reveals something you probably missed before. It's been done before (at this point, what hasn't?), but the execution more than makes up for it. That'll be a tough one for them to top.