review by: Roberto Martinelli

Bless Total Holocaust Records for once again thwarting the forces of eBay shark tank obnoxiousness by putting out yet another one of Xasthur’s super rare and cult albums, A Gate Through Bloodstained Mirrors. The packaging is entirely new (leaving those with the original issue with the unique wax seal with a product to hold on to). What’s more, the album has been totally re-mixed and slightly altered in terms of fewer vocals.

A Gate Through Bloodstained Mirrors was Xasthur’s first attempt at a full-length album, and clearly established his signature style: a unique, buzzing, throbbing guitar tone that lends a greater sense of the music limping along like a wounded wild animal, doubly fierce because of its damaged condition. The 75-minute album seethes a bloody trail through mausoleums of sound, culminating in a cover of Burzum’s “Spell of Destruction,” which, minus vocals and the signature tom-tom fill of the original, is really the only thing resembling a disappointment on the record. (8/10)