• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Kvlt fans clinging to the primitiveness of black metal's heritage baffle me. Now, I understand that overhyped and overrated bands like Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth are somehow dishonoring and killing the genre. Right? Therefore, all black metal bands have the moral imperative of being early Darkthrone clones.

It's this unforgivably dumb and elitist mentality that can kill a genre. Spaniards Lux Divina partially eschew this sentiment, but for the most part fall victim to it. They employ some "Viking" style clean vocals that skims over their minimalistic black metal assault. It can be really interesting when these vocals become the focus. The best song on From the Tomb to Nature's Blood is "Serpent's Philosophy," a beautifully sang vocal solo, but it's only one minute long. Their singer (some guy known simply as "Norax") proves that he has a great voice, but it's thrust into the background and barely utilized. As a result, the listener is left with a very dull and mediocre album, mindlessly adhering to the framework laid out by the Inner Circle bands almost twenty years ago. The majesty of many of those bands is rarely present, often sounding like nothing more than a poorly made clone.