Published: February 26, 2014

Coming to this, my first thought is its oppressive length. Two discs and about two hours. Of course, being me, I feel better about listening to an album in one sitting, rather than splitting it up. So, I found 2 free hours in which to sit and listen to this beast all at once. Let me just say, I am very impressed with this record. There are 18 tracks here and not a single ounce of filler. Everything has meaning, everything has feeling and every single thing here is at least good. Who else can say that about their double albums? I love the variation and experimentation they bring here although it still remains a black metal release at heart. There are tons of other elements here that most black metal bands wouldn't touch with a 45 foot pole such as saxophone (very heavily present on the first disc but completely absent on the second), acoustic guitar sections, electronics, sampled operatic vocals, post-rock elements and plenty of clean singing from both male and female. This is monumental stuff mostly due to it's consistency. The first disc is great but come on, that second disc is fantastic. They never run out of ideas here and that is a very surprising thing for me. More people need to give this album a shot. Don't let the length deter you. Yeah, it may be incredibly long but it is also incredibly excellent as well.

(PS: did I mention the melodies? No? Ok, the melodies are out of this world good. There is a great one on almost every song...not sure how they pulled that off but they did.)