Black metal
has been a heavily Norwegian phenomenon, but heavily Norwegian is not the same as exclusively Norwegian, and Norway's neighbor Sweden has had its share of
black metal
bands just as Norway has had its share of
death metal
bands.
Marduk
,
Dark Funeral
Lord Belial
Apostasy
Setherial
Naglfar
Funeral Mist
, and
Moerk Gryning
have all been contributors to
, and all of those bands are Swedish. It should be noted that Sweden's interest in
isn't a brand new development; Sweden has been providing
bands for a long time, and one of Sweden's early
providers was
Nifelheim
. This combo has been together since 1990, offering an infectious "black & roll" sound that owes a lot to
thrash metal
/
speed metal
and
punk
-- and that approach continues to serve them well on
Envoy of Lucifer
. Some headbangers who are not seasoned
listeners have found
to be relatively accessible because of their strong sense of groove, which is very much in evidence on this 2007 recording.
isn't just about heaviness or intensity; many of the tunes groove in an infectious way. This Occult-obsessed CD has the toughness and ruggedness of early
--
is not
symphonic black metal
-- but it also has a toe-tapping infectiousness that brings to mind
Motoerhead
(who were arguably the first
band) as well as old-school
. And that is highly appropriate given that neither
nor
would have come about were it not for
thrash
and old-school '70s/'80s
.
is not groundbreaking by 2007 standards, but it is a respectable demonstration of
's ability to continue providing worthwhile "black & roll" after 17 years in the mosh pit. ~ Alex Henderson