Pretty much anything with the Oaken Shield label on it is going to be good, and for underground Black Metal it's a good indicator of quality. This is the second full-length from Malleus Maleficarum ("Witches Hammer" named of course for the notorious 16th century text on witch-hunting). Lately I've been getting some quite good stuff from French Black Metal bands, and this is another good one.

Malleus Maleficarum are another band who play BM in the general vein of Darkthrone, if perhaps a bit more melodic. There are some nice acoustic breaks on this CD, but no keys or 'atmospheric' garbage. Most of this disc is midpaced, catchy Black Metal riffs highlighted by some pretty good vocals. Yes, these are the usual screechy type, but they have a bit more variety than the usual, and in places create a genuine feeling of agony and despair. Even without any keyboard wanking, this album creates a great mood of black hate and almost medieval terror and darkness.

This is a very solid release, and for fans of old-school Black Metal this is certainly worth looking up. Malleus Maleficarum offer almost nothing new within the Black Metal field, but they do what they do very well.