Sometimes I get in the mood for some good old fashioned, no frills, second wave black metal, and occasionally a release comes along that fills that void perfectly. Earlier this year it was Germany’s Darkened Nocturne Slaughtercult and their album, Mardom, and here in the fall/winter as the nights grow longer and darker, the fittingly black metal one man act Eternity, from Norway and his second album, To Become the Great Beast.

I have not heard the debut, but To Become the Great Beast, is a pretty darn solid effort of the genre, and those that thought Taake’s last album phoned it in, or enjoy Immortal’s cleaner efforts would do well to check out the energy, vitriol and frosty tremolo melodies contained in these 42 minutes of blissfully direct, no frills Norwegian black metal.

With a guitar tone and bass heavy production that’s both crystal clear and has a suitably blackened sheen, the effort makes no bones about its influences, but does so with confidence and a sense of song writing that’s more than just piecemeal black metal bluster and blasphemy. The first track to perk my ears up was the above track “Te Nostro Deum Sathanas” which delivers that perfect balance of melody and seething blackened fury, that Taake was once the king of.

The next track “”If I Ever Lived” follows up with an intense furor and one of those well executed stern, militant marches that black is know for beyond the expected  permafrost riffage. Then another standout “Horror Vacui” renders yet another blistering blend of melody and a cool little mid song canter. “In Subspecies Aeterna” slows things down a little bit with a melodic march and sway that really culls from the genre’s best. The title track then brings back the fury with a real nastiness, bringing on true black metal grimface instantly.

Admittedly, by this point in the album, its made its point, and the last three songs (“Violator”, “Empire”, “Nine Magic Songs”) do little to make the album better or worse, though “Nine Magic Songs” ends the album with a somber, almost Viking sway. Good stuff.

[Visit the band's website]

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