Has it really been four years since Dawn Of The Damned topped my Best of 2020 list? About time for a follow-up! Like its predecessor, the ten song effort is fast, fierce, and yet surprisingly melodic. Echoing riffs introduce sinister "Grace Of The Past", which also includes brief moments of stomping subtlety and twirls of guitar. Threatening to pulverize the drum kit, speedy "Clavis Inferni" bounces along a rhythm popularized by countrymen Unleashed, albeit here with more ferocious vocals.

A temporary downshift to mid-tempo "As Stars Collide". Midway through, a dynamic change, to almost sing-along melodies, atop a disorienting hypnosis of swirling instrumentation. Back to normal, "Stormcrow" hammers, from start to finish. Truth be told, even within such vehemence, there's a bit of ear candy. Such snippets are throughout the album: note the clean guitar solo cutting into "Shadows Of The Brightest Night", which concludes by fading out. Big production, to kick off "Mirrors Of A Thousand Lakes", then the twisted black metal gallop and overturned hornets' nest of activity. There's a sense of class, not the dirty, dangerous, loose cannon mentality of, say Watain. Fantastic stuff!

Old school aggression (not without a guitar break) from "Cast In Stone". The most atmospheric of the batch, "Nordanvind" tempers the pace, as well as the severity. However, the best comes next, the 8+ minute title cut. Frenetic guitars, pounding drums and sickening throat. As an intermezzo, there's a few wayward/solo bass notes and then a renewed aural onslaught. Some sort of black magic, all encased in a conventional, tuneful context. It ends with blaze of guitars as Anders Strokirk repeatedly bellows the titular chorus.

The instrumental "Ascension", which closes the proper disc (some formats contain the bonus cut, "Blackened The Horizon") is a short (2:49) horror film soundscape. Now, how about some live dates?