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Ahh Ildjarn, the Norwegian enigma. Starting out in the dirty Death Metal band Thou Shalt Suffer alongside Ihsahn and Samoth, he decided to shun the limelight that shone so brightly on his two former bandmates upon forming Emperor, instead forming his own project. Whereas Emperor embraced keyboards and symphonic elements, Ildjarn (for the most part) took a step backwards into the twisted blackened mire to become serratingly harsh and low-fi.

Of all of Ildjarn's work, I've always found the material he did with his partner in crime Nidhogg to be the best (including their work together in the similarly excellent Sort Vokter), so as this is a compilation of the cream of their material together, it was a bit of a no brainer that this is one of my favorites. Though the majority of the compilation is a harsh, diesel fueled bitch of an album, with grimy guitars pounding and drums clattering along madly in an attempt to keep up, there are a couple of tracks ('Svart Dag (The Nothingness)' and 'Eksistensens Jeger' in particular come to mind), that have a more Burzum-ic nature to them, with the hypnotic guitar lines weaving melodies softly around the regular drum patterns to create an epic atmosphere which is completely unlike the pervading evil which the rest of the compilation's content is so utterly soaked in.

Whichever you prefer (be it the Darkthrone-gone-wrong blast, or the mesmerizing bliss filled Burzum epicness), this album is a treat for all fans of true Black Metal, especially those who're still fixated on the older Norwegian style.