review by: Roberto Martinelli

We may have been a little too hasty in giving out the (ahem!) coveted title of "Maelstrom's black metal album of the year" to Nargaroth's Black Metal ist Krieg (review in issue #4). We're afraid we're going to have to go back on our word and announce a new winner, for Nagelfar's Virus West is an awesome thing.

We can just barely get this straight. Naglfar is a black metal band from Sweden. They are NOT to be confused with NagElfar, (our proud recipient) which is a black metal band from Germany, the same land that has spawned our now second place winner. We used to laugh at present day metal Germany and its scores of inane bands like Primal Fear and Gamma Ray. We have been silenced.

Nagelfar's previous album, Strontgorrth, was pretty killer in its own right, with a Weakling-like five songs spanning 70+ minutes. However, Nagelfar made a curious decision to include techno beats and elements into their epics, despite having one mean drummer. It still worked pretty well.

Well, maybe not. On Virus West, gone are the techno elements. Instead, Nagelfar has refined the positive elements on Strontgorrth, like the band's aptitude to meld melody, speed and brutality, and have added elements that provide Virus West with a zesty dynamism.

Such is the case on the song "Hetzjagd in Palästina," which is the best black metal song of the year. It kicks off with a blast beat driven riff that will sear its way into your brain. After a clean guitar lull, Nagelfar go at it slow and heavy with an angry stoner doom-like riff. It is here especially that the drum talents of Alexander Von Meilenwald provide the music with so much punch, as his powerfully crisp snare technique is perfectly offset by the organic clarity of the bass drum and the well-produced cymbal tones. This gives way to a furious double bass, two-chord progression, harmonic riff that solidly reminds us of the godly Aeturnus. This leads to a melodic progression that goes higher and higher in pitch and intensity, instilling the same heart-rending melancholic awe that Thy Primordial or Taake are capable of. The furious black metal growls ideally complement the progressions and further lend to the music's passion. Nagelfar then throw in a well-placed break of bass and drums with a fresh little three-note keyboard melody, before taking off again with the double-bass riff. The whole song is about 10 minutes long, but the finesse with which it is arranged makes it seem much shorter.

The following track, "Westwall," is sort of a keyboard ambient piece that reminds us of the work by Rure on Abigor's Verwüstung/Invoke the Dark Age, or the Puissance cover on …And Oceans' The Symmetry of I, the Circle O. Again, it's an excellently placed break before the more dissonant and blast beat intensive "Fäden des Schnicksals."

The comparisons to Taake (which produced one of the least talked about, yet finest works in all of black metal) come up several times, such as on the song "Sturm der Katharsis," where the Taake-like Viking pride melodies make the listeners heart swell with emotion. However, where Taake's masterpiece Nattestid is a scathing whirlwind of trebly melodic beauty, Nagelfar's delivery is stronger on the low end and is far more muscular.

Track six, "Protokoll einer Folter," stands out due to its militaristic march elements. The final track, "Meuterei," has the highest concentration of thundering Aeturnus-like double bass riffs, and would be the best track on the album if it weren't for "Hetzjagd…"

Everything about Nagelfar's presentation exudes class, from the serious and well-crafted songs to the art pictured throughout the album. In addition to one of the most curious album covers we've ever seen, the booklet features Gustave Doré's depictions of Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Passion, intensity, emotion, dynamics, riffs that all fucking rule, Doré… Can it get any better? The answer is no.