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This album is reportedly an attempt to please all fans. Having given this album quite a few listens, I have to agree that it is an *attempt*. Unfortunately it falls short of succeeding. To some extent the album covers almost every style Bathory's sound has been through over the previous 9 studio albums, although I didn't find anything ressembling the first album. There are a few good songs, such as "Lake Of Fire" and "Destroyer Of Worlds", some "ok" songs that don't do much but are listenable, but there are also some very bad songs on here. Sometimes the vocals are just plain bad (ruining the good music in some songs), sometimes the music just seems thrown together without much substance. But overall, except for the production, the 13 songs here don't really belong together - I guess as a result of this attempt to please all... Musically the songs vary from Black Metal, Viking Metal, Epic... all Bathory-style. Get the idea? Rather than settle for a couple of each, you might as well dig into their back catalog.

I was not expecting too much from this release but it's still a bit of a deception. While the album does have its qualities, they are overshadowed by some really bad material. I wouldn't go as far as call this album crap, but it's definitely not a must-have. No need to say more on this. If you want to experience Bathory, get the earlier stuff.