Opening with 'Wizarsh' and with an early highlight in 'The Malkusan Witch', this album quickly becomes a must-have for fans of bands like Darkthrone, Immortal and even Cradle Of Filth (but without the keyboards). In a way, 'The Malkusan Witch' reminds me of Cradle Of Filth's 'Haunted Shores'; which is a good thing because that one is my all-time favorite Cradle Of Filth song. I think the comparison comes from the vocals.
Because yes, Sina has quite a unique voice, one that easily increases the eerie and haunting atmosphere of the whole thing. Then, also important, is the music, which comes with plenty of variation, plenty of blast-beats driven headbanging material and plenty of immersive and hypnotic mid-tempo passages. In the, 'Kresaspa & Seven Daevas' is another highlight and we're not even halfway through the album yet.
Title track 'Chamrosh' is a ferocious monster of a song and maybe my favorite on this particular album. With this one, From The Vastland not only showcase their skill in blackened songwriting but also their technical abilities. To me, this one is the most overwhelming track, perfectly suited to play extremely loud and exorcise your inner-demons to. 'Saurva, Demon Of Hunger' is another stunner.
Well, by now, it starts looking like pretty much all the tracks here are highlights. The truth isn't even that far off as this simply is a massive album. Every fan of black metal should check this out and get his hands on a copy of this thing. This is old school, but with a modern sound, without descending into the whole post-black metal scene. I think that's a good thing. So if you're hungry for those awesome nineties, look no further, you have found what you need...
Serge