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Well, I thought this band's debut An Eternal Dark Horizon was uninspired and derivative, and here we have them producing a follow-up that while just as derivative, actually manages to be entertaining rather than dull. Throne Of Katarsis are trying desperately to be the next Darkthrone, and this is certainly a better stab at it than their first disc.

Helvete... is not stylistically any different than its predecessor, but it is a bit better written. This is still slavishly imitative of A Blaze In The Northern Sky, with a guitar tone so treble-laden I think they actually up-tuned a step. The riffs are okay, and the long songs should induce an epic atmosphere, but only succeed in places. Sometimes this feels epic, other times it just goes on for no reason. The band has grasped their songwriting a bit more comprehensively this time around, and I actually found this album interesting more often than not. Make no mistake – this is still a deeply imitative album that apes the second-wave BM sound with single-minded devotion – but unlike their last album, this time Throne Of Katarsis have made an album that is actually worth hearing, and it tells me that this band may actually be able to outgrow mimicry and become a good Black Metal band. This is still a DarkClone album, but at least it's a pretty good one.