With four bands: Blut aus Nord / Bloodoline / Reverence / Karras
Bloodoline is a band I had never heard of until I happened to listen to "Voyage Till Death," convincing me I had to buy this album regardless of who wrote the song. The combination of abstract and yet crushing guitar riffs, unrelenting blast-beats executed with deft speed and accuracy, and the howling vocals give this song and the other two Bloodoline tracks a definite elitist sound that is not very common.
The rest of the album does not interest me nearly as much; the three other bands including Blut Aus Nord offer up mostly convoluted murky metal-scapes that I don't find very stimulating. Granted they are talented bands, but Bloodoline stands in stark contrast and is by far the selling point for this album.
Bloodoline's sound is full and crisp, yet crushing in the vein of Deathspell Omega's Kenose. The guitar is surprisingly full of melody and yet complimented by demented dissonance. The songs are raging journeys into swirling anti-melodic progressions, and the drums never let up...
This album is recommended simply for these three songs, but further listening of the other bands is not discouraged because by no means are they detracting from the record; they just do not match the quality of Black Metal produced by Bloodoline from Spain. (www.metal-archives.com)
