BLACKEND VOL. 1 - THE BLACK METAL COMPILATION
A compilation - easily the first thing someone trying to get into black metal should buy (at least it's what I did). There is 4 Blackend compilations (5th one is about to be released) and the songs on the 2 CD set range from excellent to boring. However, the good songs overweight the rest so this compilation set is worth it. One thing I noticed about these Blackend compilations is that they've been put together really fast (lots of spelling mistakes and errors, crappy two page booklets without any useful information inside) Anyways, I'll do song by song review on this one:
Emperor - I Am The Black Wizard - An excellent song, some people would call this the best BM song ever. I myself am not sure if it really is the best BM song ever, but it is very good.
Impaled Nazarene - Hate - After hearing this song I was so impressed I decided to buy a IN album, and I did buy Suomi Finland Perkele (which was disappointment actually). This song is very impressive, and I love the singer Mika's screams in this one.
Mayhem - Pagan Fears - Mayhem/Euronymous/The Nordic Black Metal Scene... here it is, a song off De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas album with some excellent guitar work (like the intro riffing) care of Euronymous. However, the song is kinda long and repetitive and vocals (care of Atilla from Tormentor) are somewhat annoying (not as annoying as on the title track of De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas though).
Satyricon - Walk The Path Of Sorrow - Whew, 8 minutes, following a interesting (but also a boring) few minute intro the song starts and kicks its way through very impressively. A very good song, would have been better if the intro was shortened, but can't complain.
Throne Of Ahaz - Nifelheim - Boring/annoying intro/outro on this one, and nothing special in between. The usual black metal song. One that I usually skip when listening to the compilation.
Marduk - Those Of The Unlight - Interesting guitars make me listen to this one. But that would be all.
Enslaved - Wotan - This one is not bad at all. Good guitars and drumming. Interesting outro on this one too. After hearing more tracks off the album, I decided to buy Frost, and it was a great move.
Dark Funeral - My Darkness - An average black metal song, nothing special in my opinion. The chorus is pretty good. (Appears as "My Dark Desires" on The Secret Of The Black Arts?)
Samael - The Dark - A short instrumental, with some weird outro. Pretty good actually.
Fleurety - Absence - One of the longest (and most boring) songs on the compilation. Lots of clean vocals, but the music is boring and repetitive. A let-down.
Gorgoroth - Crushing The Scepter (Regaining A Lost Dominion) - After you get past the very annoying and very funny vocals of Gorgoroth, you'll enjoy this 3 minute song. Very good instrumentation and all, except as I mentioned - the vocals bring it down.
Enslaved - Slaget I Skogen Brotenfor - Whew. Another very long (and quite boring) song. Usually skip this one, because of the next song!
Immortal - Pure Holocaust - Oh yeah! The MOST IMPRESSIVE song on the compilation! It doesn't get any faster than this! Song is about 5 minutes long, but it's unbelievably fast - the guitars and the drums which are fucking unbelievable. Excellent stuff from these Norwegians ("KISS" of Norway - just look at the photos). Immortal plays "Holocaust Metal", as described by the band members.
Lord Belial - The Hymn Of The Misanthropic Spirit Of The Forest - Another excellent song! Great guitar work, excellent drumming and a good chorus. I love the scream towards the end of the song. Unbelievable!
Emperor - Cosmic Keys To My Creations And Times - Emperor again, and like always, never a dissapiontment! Great song with lots of detail, and quite a few changes. Impressive.
Ved Bends Ende - The Carrior Of Wounds - Very boring. I listened to it maybe two or three times, but now I always tend to skip it.
Dark Funeral - In The Sign Of The Horn - Dark Funeral again, and like last time, nothing special here. The usual satanic black metal, however I like the breaks in the middle where the "epic" sound kicks in for a couple of seconds, sounds really interesting.
Sigh - Ready For The Final War - Japanese black metal. Some cheesy lyrics, but the overall song is not bad. Very boring outro.
Bestial Warlust - Satanic - What the hell is this? The production on this one is so bad, you can't make out the instruments, or the vocals, and it seems like the band didn't do any warm-up, as if the song was done in one take. I think the production was done so to create the effect, but what effect that is is beyond me. Quite boring.
Moonspell - Tenebrarum Oratorium - This is very nice for a change now! A long song with lots of changes, weird rhytms and patterns, and female vocals. I like this song quite a bit, even though the outro may get a bit annoying.
Unanimated - Silence Ends - From the title I can't remember this at all. That's usually a bad sign. It's just one of those normal-every-day black metal songs.
Havohej - Spilling Holy Blood - Also nothing special here, except that the song is quite short and very bass-heavy.
BLACKEND VOL. 2 - THE BLACK METAL COMPILATION
The part 2 of the compilation. I liked the first one so much, I had to buy this one. Both discs contain great songs. The booklet on this one is a bit better than on Vol. 1, it actually has the information about the songs (like what album they are from, and what's the band's record label). Again, I'll do a song by song review:
Naglfar - Enslave The Astral Fortress - One of my favorite songs on this compilation. Actually, this would be the MOST IMPRESSIVE song on this compilation. At times reminds of Abigor and Dissection. Excellent choice for an opener.
Hecate Enthroned - An Ode For A Haunted Wood - This one is good as well. Even though the band is a heavy Emperor rip off on this song, it's kinda different from Emperor's style and somewhat original (like with the whispering vocals and such). I like this song a lot.
Abigor - Scars In The Landscape Of God - Abigor=Excellence. I already had Nachthymnen before I got the compilation, so this was nothing new to me. One of the best Abigor songs.
Dark Funeral - Secret Of The Black Arts - This was quite impressive. The Blackend Vol. 1 had two Dark Funeral songs, which were just "okay", but obviously the band has improved. Very fast and good!
Arcturus - To Thou Who Dwellest In The Night - Whoa, this song is quite different from the rest. Some avant-garde and folk elements in this song make it really stand out! One of my faves on the release. Excellent song, and it shows a bit of a different side of black metal.
Bestial Warlust - Orgy Of Souls - After hearing (and laughing at) the Bestial Warlust track that appears on Blackend Vol. 1 I expected another laugh. However, the song is very good, very catchy and much improved than the one on Vol. 1.
In The Woods - HEart Of The Ages - First of all, the HE is supposed to be in all caps (Then you get two things in the title, "he" and "art of the ages", wow!) Anyways, interesting intro on this one, lots of techno movements, especially on the beginning. Also quite a lot of clear vocals. Kinda long but not boring.
Diabolical Masquerade - Black Heims Quest To Bring Back The Stolen Autumn - Pretty good for a song that has such a silly titile. Actually, VERY good for a song with such a silly title.
Dissection - Unhallowed - Dissection, one of my favorite black metal bands. I already had Storm Of The Light's Bane when I got this, so this song was nothing new to me. A hyper-fast blasting 7 min. song. Dissection has never been a let-down.
Bewitched - Hard As Steel (Hot As Hell) - Not bad for a Judas Priest rip-off black metal band. Silly chorus and cheez song title, but the song is very catchy and groovy (just as I said, Judas Priest rip-off).
Emperor - The Burning Shadows Of Silence - Another song off In The Nightside Eclipse. Hovewer, unlike the two tracks that appear (and kick-ass) on Vol. 1 this one is not as impressive.
Impaled Nazarene - Blood Is Thicker Than Water - One of the reasons I bought Suomi Finland Perkele is this song. Very good, but it turns out it's the best song on Suomi Finland Perkele-remember that if you're gonna buy the album...
Satyricon - Mother North - This track is kinda boring, the weakest song off Nemesis Divina. I loved the Satyricon track on Vol. 1 and this was a let-down. Nothing special here.
Opeth - Nectar - I used to hate this song, however, over time it certainly grew on me! It is a great track, which made me realize what an interesting band Opeth is. One of the definite stand-outs on this compilation, for sure!
Ancient - The Pagan Cycle - Eh... nothing much, some interesting vocal styles, something to laugh at...
Hecate Enthroned - To Feed Upon Thy Dreams - The other HE song on this release is very good, and actually, this one is pretty damn impressive as well. Love the drumming and the guitar work on this one.
Mork Gryning - Tusen Ar Har Gatt - I don't remember this one! I think it's a typical Swedish Black Metal song.
December Moon - You Can't Bless The Damned - Pretty good track! Used to hate it but now find it very good.
Nazxul - Watching And Withering - Pretty good stuff... the guitars are tuned down and very heavy sounding.
Destroyer 666 - Eternal Glory Of War - This track is really good as well... Excellent guitar riffing and kick ass chorus. Very, very good!
Decameron - Satanized - Not bad, I'm glad it's not longer, or otherwise it'd be just plain boring. PS. This track was originally written by Jon of Dissection, and a different version of it appears on the Past Is Alive CD.
Enthroned - Tales From A Blackend Horde - Excellent closer! Some Emperor elements noticable in here, but I don't really care. A good song by all means! Vocals are pretty funny though.
BLACKEND VOL. 4 - THE BLACK METAL COMPILATION
Part 4 of the Blackend compilations. Decided to buy it just to hear some new and un-familiar bands. The booklet is good, containing the album cover and info on every one of the songs on the compilation. Again, some great stuff, here, but also some crap too. One thing is, there is not much variation, a lot of the bands sound almost exactly the same. Here's a song-by-song review:
Witchery-Witchery - I like Witchery's style. Very catchy, and melodic, lots of influences from the 80's heavy metal bands. Both Witchery tracks on the compilation are very impressive!
Myrkskog-A Poignant Scenario Of Death - This is pretty good, even though it sounds a lot like Emperor, "In The Nightside Eclipse"-era.
Usurper-Dismal Wings Of Terror - Excellent! One of the stand-outs! Heavy, crunchy, crushing American Black Metal. Kind of a death/black mix actually, with interesting production, that really brings out the "heaviness".
Hecate Enthroned-Thy Sorrow Bequeathed - Nothing special here. Still ripping off CoF. Vocals very annoying, just like Dani.
Primordial-Autumns Ablaze - Very interesting and very impressive. About 8 minutes long, but really great song. Vocals are all clear, no death/black grunts, and they remind of the clear vocals of Opeth. Kind of a slow, melodic, melancholic song. One of the definite stand outs.
Thorns-The Discipline Of Earth - Here's an interesting tune from Thorns. Ranging from slow, dark-ish guitars to some faster sections. The song varies quite a bit, with time changes, and is not your typical, standard BM song.
Emperor-Decrystallizing Reason - One of the better songs off IX Equilibrium, with good guitar work, and great drums! Kinda long and a bit boring (just like the IX Equilibrium album).
Prophanity-Awaiting The Valkyries Arrival - First of all, the background riff is such a Maiden's "Mother Russia" rip-off. Otherwise, nothing special here, really.
Odium-Towards The Forest - This one is nothing special either, it does remind a bit of Emperor.
Misfortune-The Prophecy - Still nothing too impressive. Some power metal elements noticable.
Ashes-Son Of Mourning - NOT a Dissection cover. And nothing too impressive either...
Opeth-The Amen Corner - Lately I've been listening to lots of Opeth, and come to like them quite a bit. Even though most of thier songs sound the same (ie. long complex songs, with lots of variety both musically and vocally), this is pretty impressive.
Limbonic Art-A Demonoid Virtue - Wow!!! This has got to be the MOST IMPRESSIVE track on this compilation. Prety long, and very interesting. Very chaotic and melodic at the same time, with some industrial sounding drums (I believe they use a drum machine), also it's got some keyboards and other weird sounding elements.
Enslaved-In Chains Until Ragnarok - Hmm... I thought Enslaved-Frost was such a great album! Anyways, this song is off Blodhemn, and it's a pretty good. Typical Enslaved, pretty fast and chaotic, needs listens to get used to. But makes me wonder, for how long can you sing about Loke, Fenris, etc...
Myrkskog-A Macabre Fanfare To The Devil - Nothing special here, typical Emperor rip-off Black Metal. Actually, the songs off their demo are better than the stuff off Deathmachine.
Behemoth-The Past Is Like A Funeral - This is pretty good, and kinda catchy. I like it quite a bit, even though it sounds like so many other bands out there.
Peccatum-I Breathe Without Access To Air - Well this is different. Most of the vocals are done by a female vocalist (Ihsahn's wife), making it sound very intersting, but also kinda annoying.
Diabolical Masquerade-Riders On The Bonez - One thing that I really love about this song is the cool melodic guitar that glimpses from time to time, before and after chorus I believe, it's just great! They should've used it a bit more. Has some horror movie sample, and an annoying outro. Pretty good song actually, especially after a few more listens.
Darkwoods My Betrothed-Inside The Circle Of Stones - This sounds pretty interesting actually. Not bad at all.
Thy Serpent-Circle Of Pain - Hmm... nothing special here
Witchery-Awaiting The Exorcist - Just like the other Witchery song, very cool, and very catchy. I like most of the Witchery stuff I've heard so far (well... except the cover of Judas Priest's "Riding On The Wind").
Carpathian Forest-Death Triumphant - This song is just okay, there's much better ones on the Black Shining Leather album, wonder why some other song wasn't put on the compilation.
Opeth-Demon Of The Fall - A typical Opeth song. Long, complex, with lots of variation.
Ancient Rites-Fatherland - Kinda long and repetitive, but still not bad, some interesting use of keyboards and such...
IDENTITY FIVE: I DEFY - CENTURY MEDIA COMPILATION
Not necessarily all black/death metal on this disc, but I decided to review it because it's a great cd, it helped me get into the whole new metal scene, including Iced Earth/Blind Guardian/Nevermore, and Black/Death Metal as well, OMC, Sentenced, Borknagar, etc. 17 excellent tracks from all the different aspects of metal, so therefore I'll do a song-by-song review on this one.
Iced Earth - Burning Times - Clearly one of the stand-outs on the disc. A great representation of the kick-ass SWTWC album from Iced Earth. A great opener for this compilation!
Skinlab - So Far From The Truth - Getting heavier here, I'm not a big fan of the band, but this song is not bad, and has a nice groove to it. At times the vocalist reminds of the Alice In Chains singer.
Lacuna Coil - My Wings - Ah... this is nice! We've got a female vocalist backed up with male growls. Catchy song with lots of melody, another stand-out on the disc. The song is not too heavy, and it's really good.
Turmoil - Let It Die - Some mix of grindcore/punk/metal, which is not very impressive, so this song is nothing special really.
Sentenced - The Suicider - A great song off the Frozen album, with lots of clear singing, and great guitar riffs. The guitar intro is excellent. Some interesting, depressing lyrics to an otherwise very good song. Another stand-out.
Katatonia - Deadhouse - Great mix of metal/doom with Katatonia's slow, doomy song. Where Sentenced is very depressing in their lyrics, Katatonia has very depressing music and atmosphere. After a few listens it really grows on you.
Nevermore - Poison Godmachine - More excellent stuff. One of the faster, heavier, better songs off Dreaming Neon Black album, which convinced me to get the album. Might take a while to get used to Warrel Dane's vocals, since he changes them around quite a bit, but, nonetheless, the music is excellent.
Old Man's Child - Fall Of Man - One of the black metal songs on the compilation. Often called "third rate black metal", OMC does not show too much with this track, but rather rip-off other bands (which I didn't know at the time, and was really impressed by "Fall Of Man", and got the album right away). What I'm trying to say is that the song itself is okay, but it's been done before.
Blind Guardian - Into The Storm - Great stuff here! Blind Guardian, an excellent band that really takes the epic/power metal thing seriously. One of the better songs off the "pretty good" Nightfall In Middle-Earth album (I prefer Imaginations... over it).
The Gathering - Liberty Bell - Probably one of the softest, most radio friendly tracks on this compilation. With a nice change of a female vocalist (well, all the members are females actually).  It's pretty good, but too "poppy" for me.
Haste - The Absentee - Reminding a lot of the Turmoil track from the compilation, a mix of grind/punk, this is nothing special.
Cryptopsy - White Worms - Wow, some real death metal. Very different from the rest of the stuff on the compilation, and at first I really disliked this song, and skipped it every time I listened to it. Nowadays I find it to be a pretty good song, especially if you can get over the death vocals, then you'll find a cool, very complex, fast death metal track.
Borknagar - Oceans Rise - Another stand-out on the compilation. The track itself is so great, it convinced me to get The Archaic Course album, and I'm glad I did. A great song, with an interesting slow, acoustic outro. Even though it's black metal (they call it "Epic Metal") this song features lots of clear singing.
Theatre Of Tragedy - Lorelei - Catchy intro riff is the thing I remember about this track. A mix of male and female vocals, kind of a doom/metal mix that's nothing new really.
Angra - Mystery Machine - Another power metal band, reminding of Dream Theater/Blind Guardian/Iced Earth and so many different bands nowadays, they provide an interesting track, but won't make me buy the album.
Jag Panzer - Age Of Mastery - Another more straight forward heavy metal band, with some elements of power metal, impress with this track, even though it has Iron Maiden written all over it.
Opeth - When - Another stand-out! Goes on for 9 minutes, and is a great closer for this compilation. During the course of this song, there are so many changes, from slow/acoustic/clean vocals heavy metal to fast/crushing/black-death vocal style metal that really impresses. Opeth are called "the Dream Theater of black/death metal" and it's a great description, because their songs are all very long, complex pieces of work that have lots of changes in them. The most impressive track on the compilation, definitely. Great closer.
NORDIC METAL - A TRIBUTE TO EURONYMOUS
Wow, 74 minutes of pure mayhem (well, not only Mayhem, it's got other bands too). I've been looking for this tribute cd for a long time now, and am really glad I found it. It was worth the search. It's basically a must for anyone who's into the Nordic metal scene. It promotes everything Nordic black metal stands for (well, there's Swedish bands on the complation too). First of all, the booklet itself is worth all the money. It's a 24 page booklet, filled with tons of interesting info about Euronymous, the scene, and a description/bio of the bands that appear on the compilation, and lots more useful stuff (well there's lots of propaganda on it actually). Whereas Blackend compilations are very good for introduction to basic black metal, this compilation would be an excellent start point for introduction to the Nordic black metal scene, which is very raw, aggressive, and grim. I'll do a song-by-song review on this one:
PS. I can understand why there is no Burzum on here, but No Dark Throne/Immortal/Satyricon/...???
Abruptum - De Profundis Mors Vas Cousumet - Good opener, the band calls its music "The audial essence of Pure Black Evil" and I guess the music would fit the description, because it's not as black metal song as more of a weird, screams-of-torture filled frenzy, with some synths at the beginning, which create an interesting mood. They've referred to as "the most evil band in the whole world".
Mayhem - The Freezing Moon - A *true* Mayhem song, with both Euronymous and Dead. It's an excellent track, which later appeared on De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas album. I myself prefer this version (mostly because I'm not a fan of Atilla's vocals).
Dissection - Where Dead Angels Lie - This is the demo version of the song, the real version was released on Storm Of The Light's Bane album. The song here is a bit slower, production is not as good, but it's still a great song (I could easily say it's my favorite black metal song of all time).
Emperor - Moon Over Kara-Shehr - Man, the production on the two Emperor tracks on this compilation is really bad, so it's kinda hard to get into the songs. This is a basic Emperor song, could've fit on In The Nightside Eclipse album easily. Both of these songs are now available on an Emperor re-issue cd of the early demos, Wrath Of The Tyrant demo, and such.
Mysticum - Kingdom Comes - A drum machine? I don't know, the other Mysticum track is much better than this one (even though it has a drum machine too). Anyways, can't say much about this one. Some weird synth/organs in the middle of the song make it sound kinda interesting (like being at a hockey game).
Marduk - Untrodden Paths (Wolves Pt. II) - Ah, here's a fast, good track, provided by Marduk, which appears on their Opus Nocturne album. One of the better tracks, and my faves on the compilation actually. Very good! PS. The production on this song (the album too) is very unusual.
Thorns - Ærie Descends - A very slow, dark, grim song, which differs from the rest quite a bit. Comes in good for a change. Some synths in the background give the song the *dark* feel.
Mayhem - Pagan Fears - Another Mayhem song (although it does not feature either Euronymous or Dead). It also appears on De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas album, and it's one of my favorite Mayhem songs. This version, of course, is much better than the album version. I love the catchy riff in this song, it's excellent.
Dissection - Elisabeth Bathori - A Tormentor cover, which also appears on Dissection's Where Dead Angels Lie MCD. Some spoken intro paired with synths start of this slow-paced song. It gets faster towards in the end though. Even though it's not a Dissection song, the Dissection feel is just simply present.
Ophthalamia - Deathcrush - A cover of one of Mayhem's most well known songs. Performed quite good. Can't say much more.
Enslaved - Loke - Wow, I thought of Enslaved a bit differently before this (after hearing the long, boring track on Blackned Vol. 1) but this came as a surprise. A very fast, complex, technical song. After lots of listens I really learned to appreciate it. Love the "psychotic-maniac-laughter-outro" on this one!
Arcturus - Rodt Og Svart - Arcturus, in it's early form - like most of the Norway's bands, very raw, grim, and quite fast. It's got some synths though, and Garm uses some of his majestic vocals, which kinda show this band standing out in the future, which indeed did happen. The album version of this song (on Aspera Hiems Symfonia) has a kick ass guitar solo.
Mysticum - In Your Grave - The second Mysticum song on here, with some unbelievable drumming (provided by a drum machine actually). The drum machine gives the music an interesting feel, sometimes reminding of techno music (!). Anyways, pretty decent song.
Emperor - The Ancient Queen - The second Emperor song on here, production is as bad as on the first one, and it's hard to get into this song. Would've fit good on In The Nightside Eclipse album.
Mortiis - Unreleased Outro - Some weird, interesting outro, that goes on for 3 minutes. Kinda long for an outro, but it's an interesting one. Spoken words/chants, together with synth...

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