Year: 2023
Total Time: 31:57
Label: Nuclear Blast Records

This year the Norwegian lords of atmospheric black metal have completed 30 years of existence and decided to celebrate it by releasing an album with covers of some of their favorite tunes. Even though most of them have been recorded and released in the past, they were included in various limited edition releases making them hard to find, so here we have the chance to take a good note on all of them altogether.

The beginning is rather thunderous, I obviously turned the volume to the maximum to enjoy VENOM’s “Black Metal” sweeping everything like a roadster that it is anyway, now with the freshness of the Norwegians going one step further. The sequel is similar with BATHORY’s ‘Satan My Master’, a track which, while recorded in 1984, only saw the light of day in 1998 on the ‘Jubilee III’ collection. Two minutes and fifteen seconds of old school chaos only here! Next up is ‘Dead Men Don’t Rape’ By the old EBM outfit G.G.F.H., from the limited-edition album ‘Abrahadabra’, mysterious and atmospheric, a little out of place with the rest but ok. Back to old school normality with CELTIC FROST’s “Nocturnal Fear” in its first simpler version, quite raw and “loose” as we say, since it was recorded back in 1996 for the “Devil’s Path” EP it was something to be expected. Next comes one of the best and most interesting moments for me, “Burn In Hell” by the gods TWISTED SISTER, with full throttle but also melody combined with double vocals as our Norwegian friends know how to put, and after that, the classical instruments with opening instrumental parts leave no doubt as the familiar melodies of DEEP PURPLE’s classic ‘Perfect Strangers’ fill the space. Also since the ‘Abrahadabra’ era, I’d say it’s one of the best covers that could be done on it by an extreme band. Just before the end, another classic heavy metal track, “Metal Heart” by ACCEPT which first appeared on the mini album “Godless Savage Garden” in a very good rendition very close to the original which simply means “we move on safe paths”. We are having a closure with another version of “Nocturnal Fear”, which they call “Celtically Processed” for a reason. This reference is logical, as it is completely CELTIC FROST-ish while the previous one was more raw as we said above. A classic all FROST fans who will definitely prefer from the earlier version.

I don’t know if or how much these days with the incredible amount of releases every day there is room for a “cover” album, but overall it’s a very enjoyable release and will entertain the listener who chooses it and maybe give them a chance to learn some classics that have escaped their attention. Anyway, I already have 2-3 of his contents in my playlist so I am happy/

Have fun.

Rating: N/A
Editor: Antonis Livanios
Related Link: DIMMU BORGIR – Official Page