Cosmic Genesis is the album that a friend of mine who likes Vintersorg and the Viking metal genre had been dreading. The label had been pushing the upcoming release of Cosmic Genesis as being more "accessible," a word sure to raise the hair on the neck of many a metal fan. Well, I guess that Viking metal has less to do with being extreme (Storm being a perfect example of this) than do other genres of underground music, so any change to appeal to a wider audience would be received with less disapproval by fans.

After several listens to Cosmic Genesis, I honestly think this is a good album. The production, for one thing, is excellent, in a clean, mainstream way. The singing is very well done, and the songs are well crafted and catchy.

It is curious how on one hand the album is presented in kind of a pop way, but still features a good amount of fast parts, double bass drumming, and some growled vocals. It's a bit mysterious to me if there is any substantial audience for albums like this which, I would think, would appeal neither to the hard core Viking metal audience nor the larger pop audience. - Roberto Martinelli