• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

This is one of many albums that has slipped through the cracks. I rarely run into albums released by Nuclear Blast Record that had seen a previous release, but this is one of them and I can see (well, hear) why the label picked them up, though the partnership doesn't seem to have lasted past this album. Despite an innocuous name, The Spirit play a brand of melodic black metal that sounds a bit like the blasting black metal of the mid to late '90s blended with that of the likes of the mighty Dissection, with the emphasis on the latter. You get that chaotic, speedy black metal fest with a very tasteful use of melody that makes things memorable, and even kind of catchy, without compromising the aggressiveness of the ensemble. Lots of bands try this, not that many do it right, but The Spirit nailed this one pretty good. Overall, the album is "brutal meets melancholic" with its merging of the aforementioned blasting and melody and it's one of those that just doesn't want to leave your playlist. Fans of Dissection and the likes who don't mind things just a little bit more extreme should definitely check this out.