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Chiaroscuro, the title of this nine-song debut album from Norwegian blackened thrashers Vingulmork, offers a lot of good sonic entertainment in the name of well churned out, aggressive metal. At times, this band reminds me of the musical cleverness that Kansas-based Ares Kingdom have all over their sound: raw, filthy, so sweetly aggressive. Compared to Ares Kingdom, Vingulmork is much more melodic and 'softer' sounding act, with more emphasis on some guitar melodies and harmonies (Dissection's name often comes to mind when talking about their harmonies). Jostein's toxic vocal lines rip through nicely (he must be Pete Helmkamp's (Angelcorpse/ex-Order from Chaos) long-lost cousin or something), adding more of a feel of real danger to their sound. Overall, it's hard to find anything bad to say about this record because it's a very pleasing listening experience all in all.

Chiaroscuro will serve you well if you like professionally written Black/Thrash with some absolutely wonderful Dissection-ish guitar melodies.