Let’s start off by saying I was a huge Black Sabbath fan and an even bigger fan of the Sabbath update known as Candlemass. Now we have Candlemass updated. The highlight of this disk is most definately track eight. “Solitude” is a personal favorite, and Naahz’ vision has done it justice. Cover songs rarely impress me being either a mimicry of the original, in which case I’ll stick with the original, or twisted to fit the style of the band doing the homage, which works or does not depending on the skill of the band. I rank Blodsrit’s “Solitude” up there with Motorhead’s “Louie Louie” and Metallica’s “Am I Evil”. Even better is the influence Candlemass has comes through on the rest of the album, especially on the killer “Vanmakt” with its slow Candlemass riffs and “Praise Suicide” with signature Candlemass atmospheres.

The collaboration begun on the previous album continues, with Fiebig and Kribbe and Yxmarder all helping with the music and Yxmarder contributing lyrics to five songs. The musicianship is once again top notch, with excellent guitar leads throughout and many memorable riffs and drumming that almost never is simply carrying the beat. The arrangements are getting more complex and the speed of the music no longer dictates the direction and flow of the music. Lorenzo Mariani paints a familiar scene, a bloody trail upon the snow from the doorway of a church. We all know the slaughter in the name of the church throughout history and many people still praise it, so whether you read this as christian blood spilled in retribution as I’m sure it was intended, rip a wound that will never heal, or as pagan blood spilled in the name of salvation by the armies of Christ it is a powerful image admirably painted by Lorenzo.

Four songs in Swedish, four in English, all between four and five minutes in length. From the opening music box lullaby to the closing words, “self chosen ending of life, praise suicide”, we get 40 minutes from the voice of hate, now called by his true name, Naahz. His presentation has been steadily improoving and he now clearly holds his own among his peers. Harsh and angry are of course prerequisites, enunciation is an added bonus, as is his ability to vary his delivery without losing the harshness (Praise Suicide) and at times almost sing (Illdjarn), no simple shouting here. Some words, “with a smile upon my cold blue lips I draw my last breath and fade away” by Naahz and “in birth the wicked dwell, in a human hell, ashes of the original sin lies therein, and each one born will be a regent in an age of the horn” by Yxmarder. Naahz’s voice on “Solitude” is awesome, didn’t think this song could ever work without Messiah. Musically the playing is near perfect. Definately in keeping with the original in atmosphere and intensity. Nine songs of high energy fast pace black metal with a harsh edge from this Swedish corpsepainted trio that have quickly climbed to the top of the heap. There is no question this album is one of the best of the year, in no small part thanks to excellent production by Mieszko Talarczyk, Blodsrit’s best sound yet. Blodsrit has joined the ranks of those that require no music screening before buying, and for me that is a very small club.

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