Type: EP
Label: Napalm Records
Country: Austria
Genre: Black Metal
-written by WSinned90 of metal-archives.com
I really think that this is a must have for Abigor fans, you will see some other sides of Abigor on this one, as well as hear interesting versions of other songs.
The compilation starts off with two cover tracks, one cover of Kreator and one of Slayer. This is definitely not what someone would expect from this band. On the other side I can not think of one cover song I would imagine this band do. They start off with the Kreator cover of "Terrible Certainty", it starts with an intro before blasting away, Abigor of course performs the instruments perfectly and I still get a little bit of an Abigor vibe hearing this song, after the solo you also get a little hysteric scream, nice!
Next up is the Slayer "Crionics" cover, again they have maken a little intro and this song also got an Abigor vibe and is performed perfectly. The vocals are not as good as in "Terrible Certainty" in my opinion, but not that it matters so much, they do not destroy the song and I enjoy the music. Also of note is that Thurisaz handles the vocals on these two cover songs and not Silenius, I would have preferred to hear the songs with Silenius on vocals, that could have made the songs a hell of a lot more unique I think, but unfortunately that is not the case.
Next up is the re-recording of the demo track "Shadowlord", this version originally appeared on a compilation released by Napalm Records in 1995 called "With Us Or Against Us". The song starts with Silenius hysteric screams and the production is very clear, similar too "Verwüstung / Invoke the Dark Age", but with a bit more thick production. It is interesting to hear this song as it has been improved a lot since the original demo recording, also it is a pleasure to hear it with Silenius on vocals. I really like the original demo recording of the track, but I think that I prefer this version a bit more.
Then comes a rehearsal version of "Crimson Horizons and Ashen Skies", this is definitely the most interesting track on this release because of two reasons. The first reason is because I think that this song when appearing on "Opus IV" is one of the best Abigor tracks, second because that it differs a lot from the version you have heard on "Opus IV". The way the song is arranged is a lot different, some riffs are different and especially the vocal arrangement is a hell of a lot different, this makes for a very interesting experience and I actually like this version very much. I must however say that I like the version on "Opus IV" more, since I think that the arrangements of the song are more wise and more powerful. However this is a rehearsal version, with extra added guitar layers of course, and that is interesting to hear. It is also interesting to read the lyrics to this version and see the energy and power they create here. But the vocal arrangement on the "Opus IV" recording is definitely a lot more powerful.
Last we have a rough instrumental version of the song "Verwüstung" from "Apokalypse", this version does not differ musically from the version found on "Apokalypse", but it is very interesting to hear the material in a more raw version, since it is the most primitive Abigor release and therefor it actually suits the music good. But I prefer the production on "Apokalypse".
This is a pretty essential release if you really dig Abigor, it is not essential if you are not much into their music and it is definitely not a good place to start your Abigor collection, I would suggest that you try out "Verwüstung / Invoke the Dark Age", "Opus IV" or "Nachthymnen (From the Twilight Kingdom)" out first insted if you want to explore their dark art.
80/100
Buy here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000050812?ie=UTF8&tag=encymetatheme-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000050812
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