Although I will not call Mountain Hymns a masterpiece, it gets very, very close to it. A superb album, that should integrate the collection of each and every enthusiast of the genre worldwide, I have never heard such an excellent slow BM album before. Mostly, when other acts of the genre try to approach black metal in a more sinister atmosphere, which implies a slower and darker pace, we have usually monotonous and very tedious pieces of work, generally unsatisfying. But this is not the case here. A great, wonderful and splendid monument of gracious artistry, Mountain Hymns have it all: beautiful and incisive guitar lines, funereal, but at the same time deeply reflexive and emotional vocals, a philosophical atmosphere, phenomenal melodies, and an enchanting and equally profound intriguing sense of originality. And all of it is greatly presented to us without distorting the genre at all. Albums like Mountain Hymns are the main reason why I never lose faith on Black Metal.
A great record, that deserves to be among the greatest albums ever to be released on the genre, you will never listen to a slow black metal piece more beautifully and carefully structured, antagonistically fascinating, poetically intense and wonderfully sensible than this album. A true pearl of the genre, what we have here is a fantastic demonstration that black metal experiences a vigorous revitalization. As a result, when you start listening to it, you really wish the album to last forever! Mountain Hymns is truly a groundbreaking, captivating and incredible record. You will hardly listen to anything this powerful on the genre in your life again.
With a great array of qualities, and no faults to be pointed out, I reiterate the fact that Mountain Hymns is certainly one of the most marvelous albums I have ever heard on the genre. A wonderful testimony on the elasticity, creativity, strength and legitimacy carried out by black metal.
Wagner