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I had seen this praised as a sort of Black Metal masterpiece in other places, and it sounded interesting enough to warrant an order. This was Limbonic Art's debut, back in the heyday of Black Metal in the mid-90's. But contrary to what you may hear, this is not really a BM album at all.

Yes, the two guys who made up this band (who broke up recently) wear facepaint and studded leather and carry around swords, and yes, the vocals are harsh rasps. But really this is keyboard driven orchestral music that has much more to do with Gothic than Black Metal. I can see that there is a BM basis for it all, but it has mutated far beyond the bounds of what I will take as BM. This is more melodic and orchestral than even Dimmu Borgir, and the guitars are muted far more in the mix, so that they serve as almost a background instrument. The lead instrument here is the keys, no question, and they do provide a rather cool atmospheric layer with a lot of cold atmosphere. This is an enjoyable album for background music, or as a soundtrack to playing videogames or getting head from a cooperative girlfriend. But it certainly is not what I would call Black Metal, no matter how many swords the band waves around next to the fire.

So this is a cool CD, with some very cool cover art and good lyrics. If you like Gothy Black Metal-esque stuff but can't stand Cradle of Filth then this might be a CD to check out. And if you don't like BM in general, you might like this, as most of the traditional elements of Black Metal are pretty muted here. Still, a cool CD, just not a classic for the ages.