TRACKLISTING

 

1.-Bestial Summoning
2.-To The Gates Of Blasphemous Fire
3.-On The Moonlight Path
4.-The Hands Of Chaos
5.-Under The Banners Of The Horned Knjaz
6.-The 13th Asbath Celebration
7.-Cheremosh
8.-The Forgotten Ages Of Victories

 

   Nokturnal Mortum forged a strange sound in their previous album. Goat Horns came to remind us of Emperor in their In The Nightside Eclipse, adding a complex source of keyboards. Certainly, To The Gates Of Blasphemous Fire is not what everyone expected after that quiet, magnificent album. And of course, it's hard to swallow. For, where did all that folklore go? may the listener ask, comparing this work with Goat Horns or Lunar Poetry. Well, the answer isn't all too clear. The keyboards, besides losing that folklore, represent a much more common accompaniment than before.  Sometimes, not always, a significative part will be dug up from the rest of the music, but it's minimal their intervention. Nokturnal Mortum has chosen another path. Indeed, now the music is a violent assault to the ear, featuring vicious riffs that escalate in a simpler, shorter structure. Only a few of the tracks mantain some of the epicness from before ("The 13th Asbath Celebration" or "The Forgotten Ages Of Victories") and only "Cheremosh" shows how much they appreciate their roots, producing a rare fusion that sounds extremely oriental. The rest is musical warfare. The first two tracks represent this style. "Bestial Summoning" opens the album with the sounds of war. The music is relentless, making pauses that take back the pace with machine-gun-like riffs."To The Gates..." uses the same trick, featuring the same agresiveness. "On The Moonlight Path" gives more modulation to the violent tone, using melodic riffs that mix with the brutal parts. One of the most achieved tracks. The rest follow the formula, guiding the rhythm around hypnoticly heavy riffs and imponent drum-work. "Cheremosh" is the track that, as it's been said, keeps some of the traditional ukrainian sound in the album.

 

   Some may say that this album strays too far away from the original intent. It should be heard as a different try that intended to be innovative, but in the end, it's a certain fact that To The Gates... sounds strangely common, comparing it to what they had done. Still, it's a nice try, for the heaviness intended is accomplished; nonetheless, the band is crossing a road that doesn't ensure their originality.

 

92 OUT OF 100