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Korr are a very ambitious Pennsylvanian band making some sort of chimerical hybrid between black and death metal, and this is their third album, which it took them almost ten years to complete. At almost an hour long, it's certainly a doozy, but once you get into it, there are quite a few gems to be found amongst its fields of decaying, rotting flesh and razor-wire symphonic work. Enticing, very enticing...let's dig in.

When I first saw the track listing of this, and that there were thirteen of them overall, I rolled my eyes. Was it going to be another Dimmu Borgir-esque romp into musical worthlessness? I hoped not, for my own sanity. Imagine my surprise when I was greeted with the pounding, harsh and frigid riffage of the opening title track, and the barrage of tracks that followed in its path. This is very complex, layered music with a ton of parts crammed in, and surprisingly, it works a lot of the time. The vocals alternate between a shrieking rasp and a deeper growl, and it all comes at you so fast that it's hard to process at first. The drumming is fast and blasts like the war cannons of Hell, and around them are wrapped guitars as sharp and heavy as they come, and synthesizers and keyboard work that is intricate and moody, creating a veritable symphony of terror and nihilism that I am sure fans of black metal will delight in.

I do have to say this is a bit long. An hour is really pushing it, even for this kind of pretentiously over the top stuff. The middle section of this album is really good, with tracks like the ripping "Children of Tyranny" and the somber "Shores of Inferno" packing in killer riffs and aggression, but when you get past the already-overlong nine minute "Turn to Worms" and you still have three more songs to get through, New Reign of Darkness wears out its welcome rather quickly, and it becomes a bit redundant. It does have its moments, though.