I'm Julian and I'll be making some major changes to the site in the next couple days/weeks! What does this mean for you? Well, the site will probably look like the internet threw up on it for a few moments every day! Exciting, right!? But seriously, we're just working out some kinks -- we'll be revitalizing the Twitter and Facebook to better get in touch with you, the people of Bloomington/the world.  Remember to follow us at @TracksKirkwood and check out our Facebook! 

Stay tuned for new info and new deals!

-Josh Zoerner

Rating: 8/10

Available June 7th.

-Josh Zoerner

Rating: 8.7/10

Available: June 7th

All in all, the album is a really kick ass rock 'n roll or alt. country album with killer touches of soul and pop. It's a great direction for a great band, and to me it's an easy 8/10.

Available Tuesday, May 31st.

- Josh Zoerner

Overall, I score this album at a 7.5/10. It's not quite the Death Cab we all grew up with, but it's not bad either. Truly worth a listen for fans of the band and non-fans alike.

Available Tuesday May 31st.

-Josh Zoerner

Full blown 70's nostalgia, meet Satan. Ghost's debut album Opus Eponymous, is as interesting as it is perplexing. Rife with riff after riff, and loaded with classic sing along choruses, Opus Eponymous would be right at home sandwiched between Machine Head, and Tyranny and Mutation in the used section of your favorite record store, covered in dust and reeking of pot. Yet, despite its classic rock roots, Opus Eponymous possesses a more sinister goal, Satanic salvation. 

Ghost aspires to some form of candy-coated Satanism, but has badly misjudged its audience. If their intention was swaying 13 year olds to the dark side with sickeningly sweet melodies, sure, chalk one up for the wicked one. However, this is an album made for metalheads. With the progenitors and practitioners of Satanism residing largely in the deadly serious realm of black metal, Ghost seem more imposter than intermediary. The entire Opus Eponymous experience for that matter feels more like an episode of Scooby-Doo (complete with fully costumed bad guy, Necro-Pope), than Satanic ritual. The lyrics exemplify cliché, and the costumes belong on the Halloween sale rack, but despite these complaints, I can't seem to turn the album off. Who knows, maybe Satan needs a family-friendly face lift after all.

Musically, Ghost dwells along the threshold between classic rock and metal, melding Blue Oyster Cult, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and a slew of similar vinyl club favorites dipped it in a touch of evil. The guitars split time between classic rock riffing, occasionally diminishing a 5th or a 2nd for effect, and sliding through simple, yet effective, lead passages. The keys ominously flow in and out, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of classic horror films, while both the drums and bass rely on simplicity, ensuring a continuous surge of head bobs (I couldn't imagine head banging to this album). Vocally, Ghost invokes the power of the Dark Lord with major key harmonies that would make Crosby, Stills, and Nash proud. Utilizing a rather limited, yet comfortable range, Ghost has created a windows down, stereo up, highway driving, Satanic sing along.

Opus Eponymous has earned numerous accolades for their songwriting prowess and deservedly so. Rather than pushing the boundaries of what constitutes a song like so many bands that get praised for their songwriting acumen, Ghost focuses on simplicity, reminding us all why the intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus format has made artists around the globe filthy rich and famous. The songs are addicting, sporting well developed, pervasive hooks. Each song on the album is distinct without feeling out of place and sits comfortably between 3 and 5 minutes. In addition, each song features enough build and release to stay fresh, even through repeat spins. Ironically enough, Opus Eponymous is a clinic on writing radio friendly pop songs for a genre that has all but shunned radio.

On the production end, Opus Eponymous nails 70s throwback, right down to the hot tape sizzle of old analog recordings. The Bass, refreshingly audible even on the worst of systems, thumps slowly but deliberately, anchoring the ballsy British crunch of the guitars. The keys float inconspicuously, never fighting for sonic space, and consistently providing atmosphere. Dipped in substantial reverb and delay, the vocals sit prominently at the head of the mix, reflective of pop styling more than metal, but never overbearing. That said, Opus Eponymous desperately lacks any sort of edge. For a band that flirts so openly with evil, the production should roar. Instead, its as vicious as a Pomeranian.

Suffer as it may from these inconsistencies, the album art kills. This is the kind of cover designed for vinyl in its 12" glory. Simple and effective , Opus Eponymous's presentation should be a lesson to all bands with convoluted, over-photo-shopped covers, especially in an age where most will purchase a CD copy, or view it as a thumbnail on their mp3 player. I could just as easily blow this up and hang it on my wall as I could sift through it in my digital library.

Like any good episode of Scooby-Doo we'll have to wait for the end of the episode for Ghost's great uncloaking. Will their diabolical plan to deliver Satanism packaged as highly accessible classic rock succeed? Will they amount to anything more than a minor speed bump on metal's tireless journey? Will those meddling kids ever discover their true identity? Are they merely the creepy gas station attendants? Maybe the conspicuous groundskeepers? Better yet, are they an amalgam of Swedish superstars hiding beneath inky cloaks to produce a record their respective genres won't allow? Regardless of devious plans, staying power, or true identity, Ghost have produced a rocking good album for rocking good times that will satiate nostalgic desires when Tyranny and Mutation for the 500th time simply won't cut it.

Final Score: 86/100

-Mike Lang

Mention this review and receive $2.00 off your purchase of Ghost's Opus Eponymous

For many, orthodox black metal cliché has become too much; Basement dwellers in corpse paint thrashing at top speed with the fire and fury of hell. As the genre developed, bands stopped beating away at the barriers of social acceptability and musical innovation, and instead, started beating a dead horse. Minimalist blasting over treble picked diminished fifths can only be rewritten so many times, but that doesn't seem to stop anybody from trying. For a genre that once existed on the outer limits of extremity, its edge has dulled considerably. Sure its members still possess the same misanthropic elitism and overwhelming pretension. Sure, they still draw upon Christian images and ideas to paint their portrait of Satan, but the fear and foreboding are gone, the challenging, genre-bending musical structures have morphed into rigidly controlled definitional barriers.  To venture beyond these walls is to renounce your "kvlt" status and join the “trend scum” who pollute black metal purity. Many bands in the foggy realm of black metal who have left the walls behind, have also left behind Satanism, leaving the epitome of fear and darkness to languish in the tired triteness of the “tr00.”

Enter Deathspell Omega. At one time an embodiment of black metal pastiche, their previous two releases, Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice, Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum and now Paracletus, the crown jewel of the DsO catalogue, have combined to construct a trilogy that obliterates the rigid walls of orthodox black metal, unleashing the beast, and teaching us once again what it is to hate, to fear, and to suffer.

On first listen, Paracletus is a violent cacophony, contorting rhythms, melodies, and time signatures with painful urgency and focus. Yet the contortions transcend music and become almost visceral, as if Satan himself sought to experiment with the limits of humanity. How far can the human body bend? How much can the human mind bear? A hurricane of splintering dissonance swirls as jagged, sputtering drums beat relentlessly, keeping time in some otherworldly march. Angular guitar riffs wind harshly around spastic bass lines. The vocal performance borders on the inhuman as DsO executes shrieks of terror and pain, wails of sorrow and agony, and guttural fits of spitting blasphemy. Its torturous and frighteningly real.  Paracletus is ugly, covered with filth, and completely uncompromising. Most of all though, Paracletus is terrifying. Ominous voice overs, chants, shrieks and screams juxtaposed against the clanking and jerking of wicked instruments force the hair on the back of your neck to stand on end while DsO's signature arpeggios, chromatic melodies, and unexpected, almost random snare drum cracks create an atmosphere of unease. Nothing about Paracletus is comfortable or familiar. Rather, Paracletus offers 42 minutes of turbulence and terror.

Yet, on subsequent listens, Paracletus reveals its immense depth. Sprinkled throughout the albums are moments of  beautifully crafted haunting. "Epiklesis I and II", "Dearth", and Paracletus's utterly brilliant closer, "Apokatastasis Panton", feature astounding grace. The dissonance rolls harmoniously in innovative patterns, while melodies float atop with simplicity and elegance. Even the brashest of tracks ("Phosphene", "Wings of Predation", "Abscission", "Malcontent") feature thoughtfully composed melodies and harmonies. Amidst the overwhelming ugliness and terror, Paracletus is beautiful and fascinating, a reflection of DsO's view that beauty exists in suffering. Beneath the apparent chaos are a rich and innovative musical structures as well as a slew of unbelievable feats in musicianship. I have no doubt Paracletus was as difficult to compose and perform as it is to listen to and unpack.

On the production end, Paracletus is completely sterile. Cleanly compressed and masterfully mixed, every dissonant note, every grunt, and every cymbal crash is noticeably clear without sounding artificial. , Paracletus demonstrates that evil doesn't have to sound "necro," and power doesn't have to result from over compression and unnecessary EQ boosts.

While Paracletus deserves its musical accolades, one must not forget that this album, and the entire trilogy for that matter, is religious music. It is Satanism's Sei Gegrüsset.  Overflowing with symbolism, largely extracted from Christian ideology, DsO wrestles with their interpretation of a metaphysical Satan. As such, the entire presentation reeks of unbearable pretension. The lyrics are an amalgam of Greek, Latin, French and English cobbled together in deeply coded and often unintelligible metaphors. The imagery is vivid, if not overly so. Despite its confounding nature and pretension, its hard not to be intrigued by DsO's zealous fanaticism, and the ideology which drives them to innovate and create in such unique ways.

Paracletus has proved that the boundaries of black metal have yet to ossify. Rather, they can and should be pushed, and when they are, black metal can still terrify and haunt. It can transcend the cliche and pastiche that have led to years of stagnation. The blunted blade of black metal has been sharpened, and Deathspell Omega wield it with the skill and ferocity to make it dangerous once again.

Final Score: 96/100

Mention this review and receive $2 off your copy of Paracletus from Tracks!

-Mike Lang

My musical bucket list reads something like this:

1) Experience Inno A Satana with Emperor

2) Make funny faces while playing air guitar at an Immortal show (I can cross this off my list in February!)

3) Chant The Bard's song at the top of my lungs with a thousand fellow Tolkien nerds and the best power metal band ever; Blind Guardian. Check.

Its been four years since Blind Guardian last crossed the Atlantic, mounted on dragons wielding flaming steel (Ok, maybe not, but imagining Blind Guardian traveling by conventional means really ruins the illusion). So to my surprise and delight they announced a few months ago that they would be touring North America to support their utterly brilliant new album At the Edge of Time.

Chicago's Bottom Lounge is your typical small club, a cement box, with a stage and a makeshift bar. They crammed the merch table in the bathroom hallway, forcing everyone to shimmy and shuffle along the brick wall, past everyone with fistfulls of dollars, patiently waiting  to look at the collection. Admittedly this was my first power metal show. On most occasions I don't have a taste for it. Its cliche, and often poorly done, but Blind Guardian are so damn good at what they do they transcend any genre barrier that could ever get in my way. As such, the crowd differed greatly from the Cannibal Corpse shirt wearing, beer slamming, 300 pound heavy weights I was accustomed to fighting against for a spot on the rail. The same Blind Guardian crowd would have been just at home at a Magic the gathering tournament, or in front of their computers, slogging away at World of Warcraft. As I waited for the bands to take the stage I heard enthusiastic arguments about which fantasy novels were the best and how they compared to Tolkien; vivid descriptions of epic quests in video games to Blind Guardian albums; the terrible translation of many classic fantasy series into movies and mini-series. Interestingly, it seemed most people could care less about the hierarchy of Blind Guardian albums (I heard no discussions about whether Imaginations was better than Nightfall, or where At the Edge of Time ranked against its predecessors). Rather, Blind Guardian albums were ranked according to listener's experiences with the albums. One person behind me raved about how fantastic Nightfall was because he listened to it for the first time while reading his favorite fantasy series.

At five til eight, the lights dimmed and Seven Kingdom's emerged from their mother's basement, overweight, balding, and socially awkward. It was every power metal cliche rolled up into one package, right down to the flaming Warlock guitar. For young bands in attendance Seven Kingdoms provided a riveting lesson on what never to do on stage. The lead singer, a small blond , wearing skin tight jeans and a skimpy top wiggled around on stage like the old VH1 video vixens, blowing kissing to enthusiastic audience members, and making every form of "sexy face" possible. While I admire her confidence, her feminine schtick seemed to derive more than anything from an accustomedness to being the only girl in the room rather than a natural attractiveness. In a genre which requires frontwomen to be powerful and demanding, her performance fell woefully flat (as did the vast majority of notes she delivered). As the band paraded around stage, they threw the horns at every possible moment, tried the ridiculous 80's glam back to back guitar solo technique. The only member with some sense of stage presence was the the bass player, who, ironically enough, was relegated to the back. Despite the bands stage performance, the actual music was decent, typical power metal fare for hardcore power metal fans (which I am not). Harmonized guitar leads, chanting choruses, and a galloping kick. The music was well executed (except the lead vocals), and for the most part well-composed. I would expect Seven Kingdoms at my local watering hole, but they seemed completely out of place and unprepared to tour with the reigning kings of power metal.

Completely unfamiliar with Holy Grail I expected another hard to swallow dosage of watered down power metal cheese. I couldn't have been more wrong. After a 15 minute set change (15 minutes!! tour managers take note) Holy Grail (formed of ex-White Wizzard members) transformed the Bottom Lounge into a time machine, transporting us all to the late 70s, when Iron Maiden and Judas Priest proved night after night that metal lived for the live environment.  In a matter of seconds James Paul Luna, Holy Grail's charismatic and talented lead, seemed to flip the "on" switch and the crowd roared to life. Reminiscent of a much younger Kai Hansen, Luna shrieked with fury and easily could have done without his microphone. For their 40 minute set, Luna was the biggest man in the room. He moved with a tightly controlled fluidity, hypnotizing audience members and inciting furious head banging from a rather docile crowd. The band stood in stark contrast to Seven Kingdoms, epitomizing everything a band should do when in an opening slot. They were the best kind of appetizer, the kind that leaves you hungry for more, if only the entree wasn't so good.

After thirty minutes the lights went dim, and the orchestral opening to "Sacred Worlds" slammed through the House PA. The crowd pushed forward and Frederik Ehmke, Blind Guardian's new drummer (since A Twist in the Myth), mounted his throne. The crowd roared. A minute and a half later, André Olbrich and Marcus Siepen emerged in time to play the sick metallic clang that transitions from the opening to the meat of the song. The crowd roared. Then, just in time, Hansi Kürsch, sprinted onto the stage and it seemed the crowed multiplied by 20, and with a deafening roar, greeted power metal's greatest frontman.

Despite the enthusiasm the crowd was tough. One attendee informed me that when Blind Guardian last came to Chicago, the crowd was unable to sing "The Bard's song", a staple of all BG live sets. This time around, the Chicago crowd  once again boarded the struggle bus.  After Sacred Words, Hansi set up one of his classic song intros, "Welcome to....", and rather than responding with a roaring "Dying" the crowd just milled about. After a snappy retort, Hansi successfully tried again. Later during the set, Hansi applauded the Bears for their victory over the Eagles the day before. The fact that a German bothered to look up the scores of a sport he likely cars nothing about demonstrates an incredible commitment to the crowd, but rather than cheering, the the Chicagoans booed. Apparently football doesn't compute. After that, Hansi gave up with the between song banter and stuck to a rather minimal script. 

Blind Guardian's set flowed between eras, highlighting crowd favorites and easy to chant choruses, executed to perfection. I was curious to know how Hansi's voice matched up to the immense power he displays on record (I swear this guy must carry his balls around on a cart), and I was blown away to discover his exactness. Wail after wail, high and low, he hit it all. Although the albums benefit from multi-tracking and numerous vocal harmonies, his live delivery completely offset the lack of additional vocal tracks. Add in a few hundred fans singing at the top of their lungs and the effect is stunning. Nightfall and Valhalla particularly stuck out as songs benefiting from a thousand additional voices.

Blind Guardian's decision to close their main set with "And Then There Was Silence" was the night's biggest surprise. Although they sacrificed "Imaginations From the Other Side," the inclusion of the best song from A Night at the Opera more than made up for the loss.

Although Seven Kingdoms strongly dilutes the memory of the show, Holy Grail absolutely slayed, while Blind Guardian proved once again why they are Germany's biggest metal export.

 -Mike Lang

Few metal bands have rocked more faces than High on Fire have in the past twelve years. With five full-length albums to their name and a touring schedule that would make anybody tired just by looking at it, High on Fire are undoubtedly one of the most hardworking metal bands around. Opening bills for Metallica and Megadeth doesn’t hurt either.

Store employee David Ray caught up with drummer and founding member, Des Kensel about opening for a cartoon band, drinking moonshine with Hank III, and a possible tour with The Go-Go’s.

David: I read that on your first tour you played a show in Florida for fifteen bucks and free beer. A decade later you’re touring with Megadeth and opening for Metallica. Did you ever see that coming?

Des: Yeah, I do remember that. I actually booked that tour and we played at a place in Tallahassee, and the guy was like well I can only give you fifteen bucks, but you can have all the free Schlitz you want. So we were like alright, cool I guess. Not much you can do about it.

David: I saw Dethklok in Chicago on the tour they did before the tour with you guys and there were a lot of young kids there who had never been to a metal show before. How do you feel about being embraced by the Cartoon Network crowd and being a gateway band for a lot of kids to get into metal?

Des: I think it’s awesome. That tour went well for us. The lineup was very eclectic but we’ve done some support tours before where you can tell that the audience is not into what we’re doing, but I think slowly they’ve been coming around. I think it’s great that Cartoon Network is involved. They took a song of ours that I guess they’ve been playing during ads on TV and they put out an MP3 of it and it’s great. When I was a little kid I was looking for any possible way to find new music that I liked. Anything that’s going to allow newer or younger audiences to hear us. I’m all for it as long as it’s tasteful because our name is slapped on it.

David: I’ve heard the term hipster metal being thrown around referring to bands like The Sword and Baroness. It seems like if you put out records that have an appeal beyond the metal community you get flack for it. Have you guys ever encountered that?

Des: No, I mean I’ve started to hear that term the last year or so and I think it’s pretty funny. I guess it’s when someone does something that certain people latch onto and it becomes the new hip thing. I’m not saying that’s what we are or anything. We used to be called stoner rock and if we’re hipster metal now, whatever (laughs) no one really gives us flack for it. At least not to our faces. Whether it’s hipster metal, stoner rock, or shitcore we’re gonna just keep doing what we do.

David: You’ve toured with a lot of quality bands that wouldn’t be considered metal, like Mono and Russian Circles. Do you prefer to tour with metal bands, or do the other bands kind of break up the monotony of only touring with other metal bands?

Des: I like those tours. It’s cool because if you go to a death metal show or something and you see the flyer for the show, and you can’t even read all the names on the bill because of the death metal lettering. You go to see one of those bands because you’ve heard of one of them and you just see five bands that sound exactly the same. Whether it be Russian Circles or Mono or whoever, it keeps it interesting and they’re heavy in their own way.

David: I heard that Hank III almost played bass on Death Is This Communion. Is that true?

Des: Yeah, we wanted Joe Preston to fill in on bass for Blessed Black Wings because our bass player George just quit two weeks before we were going to record. Joe ended up touring with us for two years, which was a lot more than we thought or expected. Finally he was like I’m done, I’m going to do my own thing. So we were right back in the same position we were in for BBW, and we did a tour with Superjoint and just kind of made friends with [Hank] from that, so if we played in Nashville he would come out. If he was in San Francisco we’d go see Hank III doing that, and we’d keep in touch. We contacted him to play bass for DITC and of course him being the way he is he was like, (start southern accent) “Oh man, you know I’d love to do it, but I’m so busy right now with my own shit.” He recommended Jeff [Matz].

David: What’s it like drinking with Hank III?

Des: (laughs) It’s cool, man. Actually, one time after a show in Nashville he wanted us to stay at his place. He had all these old mason jars full of moonshine, like peach moonshine and raspberry moonshine. We were just hanging out at his house listening to tunes, and he was like, (southern accent) “Hey Des man, you gotta come downstairs with me” and he showed me his big jam room and his drumkit. He’s a super cool guy, he loves music and whenever we hang out with him he’s just one of the dudes. He’s humble and always has kind things to say about our band. When someone starts fluffing our ego like that how can we not like him?

David: Do you get a chance to listen to new music on tour? Any new bands people should check out?

Des: Touring as much as we do, the way I’ve been turned on to new bands recently is if somebody’s playing something in the van or we happen to be at a bar after a show to get a drink and somebody is playing something cool. We just did some shows with Russian Circles in Canada and I like their new record. I still keep in touch with Relapse and I love that last Disfear record. Our merch girl played me the newest Torche, which is when I first heard Torche. Touring as much as we do, honestly, I don’t go out there like I used to when I was young and hungry, looking for the next new thing. I got 115 decibels blaring in my ears for 120 minutes a night so my downtime is downtime (laughs).

David: On the new album, I love the track “Bastard Samurai.” It’s an epic, brooding song that seems like a new style for you. Is there any story about how it came about?

Des: Yeah, when we went to record [Snakes for the Divine] we had two weeks of pre-production in a rehearsal studio that had a PA, which is the first time we had really done that. It actually helped because we were out of Oakland, out of our element, away from all our distractions, and we got to just concentrate on finishing the record. We had most of the songs written, but we knew we needed some extra material to make it as long as we’d like. Near the end of the pre-production Jeff just started fucking around on guitar but sort of drop tuning, and then Matt started messing around and two of the songs were written from the drop tuning. One was “Bastard Samurai,” and one was “Ghost Neck.” But with “Ghost Neck” we decided to step it back up to standard tuning. We went into the grab bag of riffs we had to finish putting [“Bastard Samurai”] together, adjusting the timing or the tuning and we had it done in two days. It’s a little different than the standard High on Fire formula, which is one reason why when we wrote it we were super into it. I remember getting back to our hotel that night and we had a nice little buzz from drinking, and just listening to it over and over.

David: I’ve read about you guys drinking on tour, but for as much as you are called stoner rock there isn’t much about you guys smoking. Do you smoke?

Des: I don’t. I have, but I don’t. It’s just not my thing. For me, it’s counterproductive, but I’m not against marijuana. Whether it helps people medically or mentally or whatever, that’s great. I probably drink a little more than the average person, but everyone’s got a little crutch. Even Matt [Pike] doesn’t really smoke weed anymore. I’m sure everyone’s heard Sleep stories about how much weed they would smoke but like anything it eventually reaches it’s limit and you have to start stepping away.

David: So you’ve played with Metallica and Megadeth and opened for a cartoon metal band, is there anything else left to cross off the High on Fire tour bucket list?

Des: (laughs) You know whenever this question comes up I give more or less the same answer, kind of as a joke. The Go-Go’s (laughs). If you ever watched their behind the scenes things, those chicks used to party.

-David Ray



The storied history of black metal contains many characters, yet few deserve the recognition and respect reserved for Enslaved. Crawling from Norway's primordial ooze in the early 90s along with black metal stalwarts Darkthrone, Mayhem, Burzum, Emperor, and Immortal, Enslaved not only helped defined a genre, but evaded the trappings of instability that have plagued most of black metal's founders. Instead, Enslaved has quietly continued along its upward trajectory, producing genre-bending albums one after another.Yet rather than headlining world tours to adoring, sold out crowds (ala Immortal), Enslaved gets relegated to a support slot for the Dimmu Borgir, the same Dimmu Borgir fighting in the dregs of the Hot Topic mallcore scene for the attention of ICP, Distrubed, and Slipknot fans. The same Dimmu Borgir who just finished a European tour in the support slot for nu-metal posterboys Korn.

That said, Axioma Ehtica Odini stands as a monument to Enslaved's monumental career. It has refined the best aspects of post-below the lights era Enslaved and infused it with the icy rawness found on Eld and Frost. If anything, the album is a testament to songwriting, something that, unfortunatly, finds itself too often buried beneath speed, virtuosity, and riffs. Mind you, I don't mean song writing in the conventional, formulaic sense (think Amon Amarth). Rather, the album is the epitome of what songwriting should be, the creative melding of styles, emotional ebbs and flows, and the careful structuring of musical layers in ways which often defy convention. Despite Enslaved's radical and divergent influences nothing ever feels forced or out of place, as if psychedelic rock and black metal (among other things) were made for each other. Its musical synergy of the highest order.

The album begins with the steady rolling of waves, as a ship approaches the shore before racing into the memorable and gripping "Ethica Odini." Despite the song's simplicity its mid-paced main riff gallops along at a perfect headbanging pace (this song is after all, one of Enslaved's most headbang worthy songs), before breaking into a chorus featuring the clean vocal lines that made vertebrae such a masterpiece and abound throughout the album. The highlight of the song has to be the bridge. Enslaved has mastered the art of builds, abandoning typical build clichés (snare/tom rolls, scale progressions) in favor of brilliant and innovative song structures. The vocals soar, and the guitar solo borrows from some of psychedelic rock's finest.

The album plays for close to an hour (58:27), yet the album never grows old or tiring. The offerings are diverse, and the album, as it should, plays like an album. "Axioma" like a built in album flip, splits the album in half, featuring a slow, haunting keyboard wash before kicking into the second half of the album.

 Axioma Ethica Odini is becoming one of my favorite albums from one of my favorite bands. It represents so well the career of such a storied black metal band, and sets the benchmark for black metal innovators everywhere.

Final Score: 94/100

Mention this review and receive Enslaved's "Axioma Ethica Odini" for $13.50 (originally priced at $15.99)

-Mike Lang