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After discovering this band through the excellent Strick Regime Country, I dug into the strange and varied backlog of Die Entweihung and was surprised to find how recent their turn to a more novel sound was. They initially started as a strictly black metal project that explored some different aspect of the genre with each release, with the execution of those facets ranging from pretty good to fairly dull, and it wasn't really until their tribute album to Joy Division where they started expanding on their sound until they hit something truly distinct around The Worst Is Yet to Come. This release came afterwards and saw them largely abandon their black metal roots outside of the vocals, and since it recently got a spiffy remaster to iron out the recording quality, I figured it was as good an excuse as any to ramble about how cool this project is again.

If you heard Strict Regime Country, then you have a decent idea of what to expect here: lengthy songs led by rambling, inventive guitar work, compositions that maybe go on too long but never really outstay their welcome, and a flurry of influences ranging from trad to post-punk to make a propulsive and aggressive sound that doesn't sound like much else out there. The big differences here are that there's a clearer Middle Eastern bent to some of the melodies and the inclusion of some powerful female vocals that aren't always strictly on key, but have enough force and charisma to get past that fact, all of which give this an identity in and of itself outside of just being another Die Entweihung release.

That said, I find this to be a bit less daring and inventive than what would come afterwards, which is to be expected but is still notable. Further, while the two covers at the end are well done, especially the surprisingly effective rendition of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero," I find it a bit lame to end the album with those instead of some new material. However, these are both pretty minor complaints for an otherwise killer release from a project that maybe took its time to really arrive, but did so with passion and power while crafting an iconoclastic sound that's now worthy of serious attention. Now is as good an album as any to start giving it to them.