I remember seeing these guys live many years ago after my first black metal experience which were Enslaved. I went to the show, and I absolutely hated it. After enjoying Enslaved’s great live performance, Phanteon I were such a letdown since I thought black metal was the genre for me back then. I quickly turned them down as “just noise” and went home pretty disappointed. This was when I first got into harsher metal a few years back, and I suspect that my mind wasn’t entirely ready for that kind of music then. Now however, I enjoy my black metal and I saw this at my local record shop and instantly remembered the name. I figured I should pick it up and check if this was really as awful as I remembered. Judging by the fact that the band consist of members from 1349 among others, I was led to believe that the crew was experienced and that this would be something that would easily grab my attention and keep me interested.

Quite frankly, they succeed. Partly. The straight-out black metal here is so-so when it comes to quality, and comes off as fairly generic. Sure, there are some cool tremolo riffs here like on the opener Origin of Sin and the Helheim-y Where Angels Burn, this is nothing groundbreaking however, and does come off as pretty darn bland and too generic after a couple of listens. It’s all something you definitely have heard before, hence no excitement or spark, just plain and simple black metal played by moderately skilled musicians. However, on a completely different note, they’re creating some great slower, epic pieces that never fail to engage me and that indeed have lots to offer. Songs like the title-track, Coming to an End and Shedim are melancholic and melodic, yet raw and disturbingly atmospheric. The fact that their skilled female cello-player Line Julianne Kostøl is getting more space to express herself musically is great, and boy does it makes a difference. Not only does she fit the songs perfectly, but she also adds the variation this album so desperately needs. The muddy riffs, slow and stable rhythm-work, great vocal work and even some clean vocals here and there makes for some really enjoyable songs. If I could choose, this style would easily be represented on the upcoming album, as it is simply the twist that both fits best and sounds much more natural than the straight-out grim stuff they’re attempting on the rest of this record.

Indeed, this is an album that without a doubt suffers from incontinency first and foremost. It sounds like they’re still trying to find their own style, and while they haven’t wholly succeeded with that task, I don’t see why they shouldn’t. This is glimmering with greatness; however, it is sadly buried by all the generic tracks which just steal away all the engaging, inspirational and, not the least, sometimes beautifully melancholic and dark moments. A part of me is really looking forward to the next album, while the other is seriously considering dismissing it in fear of the lack of emotions, rawness and creative riffs The Wanderer and His Shadow is missing. This all boils down to mediocrity mixed with brilliance, generic songs mixed with truly engaging, gloomy epics, so-so musicianship mixed with a sometimes dazzling sense of melody. As you probably understand, an incredibly hard album to rate where four songs are killer and the remaining four are rather dull. An album not to be judged by the single boring song you hear on MySpace, but by the entirety of it, and not the least the three-four awesome ones that wraps it all up. Check it out, remember that opinions may vary.