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Longtime readers of The Metal Crypt probably don't need an introduction to Root, as they may well be one of the more celebrated bands on here. From their beginnings as a very first-wave black metal act to their mutation into something dark, epic, and beyond easy categorization, this is a proper legendary act that carved their own dark path and basically founded the Czech black metal scene along with Master's Hammer, and it's impossible to understand the region's metal scene without knowing something about them. Despite all the prestige and historical significance, most fans would agree that it was around the 2000s when the band started to sort of fall apart, with longtime guitarist Blackhosh leaving after the divisive Madness of the Grave and the band sort of falling victim to Big Boss' weirder musical ideas without anyone to help refine them into anything that wasn't either derivative of past glories or just indescribably baffling and awful. What's also agreed upon is that this album was the last release of their golden age, and I'm talking about it now due to the band playing some small-scale live shows and teasing something on the horizon and the fact that, like most of the albums that came before it, it's an unparalleled masterwork.

Trying to describe Root to the uninitiated is like describing the true nature of hell to the godless, as their black metal base is so primordial and their later epic leanings so unique to them that the only meaningful way to discuss their albums is in comparison to one another. With that in mind, Black Seal is easily their darkest and most menacing work, with the direct numbers being the heaviest they've done and the more esoteric and mystical songs being the most absorbing and powerful to date. The former is made obvious with the album opener "Festival of Destruction," an incendiary track that stands as the best song they ever wrote with crushing riffs, Big Boss' powerful operatic bass, and a layered, hypnotic chorus unlike anything they'd ever done up to that point. The latter comes immediately after with the magical, almost waltz-like "The Incantation of Thessalonian Women," which displays odd, moody arrangements and a mix of soft croons with powerful blackened roars. To describe any other songs would be to rob this work of the surprises it has in every corner, but know that despite the final track being only six minutes of music and the remaining thirteen being dedicated to repeating the chorus while gradually pushing it back in the mix until it ends with silence, there's not a moment on here that isn't startling, haunting, and masterful to various extents.

As a unit, I also don't think the band themselves has ever been tighter and more inspired. Blackhosh churns out his very best work with riffs that rise, blaze, and spit like the flames of hell itself and leads that wail and soar over it all like the cries of the eternally damned. Igor's bass work has never been heavier than it has here, and Evil's drumming gives this momentum and aggression it otherwise would not have had. Of course, when discussing Root, you have to talk about the all-powerful voice of frontman Big Boss, who went ahead and decided to give his best performance and one of the greatest ever heard in metal at the ripe old age of fifty, with his commanding singing voice displaying more versatility, power, and style than before and his blackened bellows and roars sounding more evil and frightening than ever, perhaps more so than any vocalist in the style has ever done since.

This probably reads as an indulgent review gushing over an established classic, and I guess it is, but the fact I beat everyone to the punch here is kind of surprising. Every Root fan has their favorite album, and most of them are entirely reasonable to pick for their own reasons, but while I prefer The Book simply for its epic mood, I really think this is the band's best album overall. They'd never again show a comparable command of their unique, arcane songwriting, and even compared to their other masterworks, there's a maturity, depth, and power to be found here that I just don't think their other albums have, and I cannot imagine a better bookend to an unequalled run of unique genius from one of the best bands to ever do it. An album without flaws from a band without peers.