(Taken from Terrorizer Magazine)
This is the tracklist for the new album:
1. ALL SHALL FALL
2. THE RISE OF DARKNESS
3. HORDES TO WAR
4. NORDEN ON FIRE
5. ARCTIC SWARM
6. MOUNT NORTH
7. UNEARTHLY KINGDOM
'All Shall Fall'
Where 'Sons Of Northern Darkness' rushes out of the gates like a horse with its arse on fire, the opening title track of the new opus flows like cold molasses with snowy industrial ambience. Then it's straight into trademark melodic riffs, colder than an Inuit's snatch with a subtle 'Hanger 18-esque tone and uplifting ascending chords. There's deeper vocalisations, thundering, phased guitar and delicately woven leads making this cross between 'One By One' and 'In My Kingdom Cold' less 'Sons...' part two more Immortal 2.0.
'The Rise Of Darkness'
Bringing back the Bathory, this is a thrashing number that alternates between moments of menace and a mellow mid-paced sweeping chords, the '80s vibe carrying through to a stomping riff part way through.
'Hordes Of War'
Short, sharp, shock of thrashing war metal ? albeit with the Immortal sheen to it ? it's a brutal burst of pummeling black metal and picks up the slack left by 1349. Pure musical holocaust.
'Norden On Fire'
A drop of pace an another intro, with glacial ambience making way for clean guitars in a cross between a speedier 'Beyond The Northern Waves'/slower 'Cursed Realm Of The Winterdemons'. It's swiftly followed by a vibrant battle riff in an upbeat 'Tyrants' vein, with Furia-esque uber-posi drive.
'Arctic Swarm'
Another blackened thrasher with the pace of an avalanche, the guitars pound like Hephaestus in a workshop while chaotic solos punctuate the mix like a swarm of bees. A riff buffet.
'Mount North'
An intermediary song before the final assault it's not what you'd call filler, but after a snow blizzard sampling intro, it's like a diabolical holocaust battle with blizzard beasts and the damned sons of northern darkness at the heart of winter.
'Unearthly Kingdom'
We've had darkness, war, fire, mount, Arctic, north so it wouldn't be complete without a kingdom thrown in. And at this point it's no longer possible to avoid using that word. This is epic. Organ-like disparate noise introduces the track, with the feel of a less tedious latter-day Burzum before the riff appears like a longboat breaching the fog, the raiders contained therein marching to massive, pounding drum beat that complements the guitars like a well organised industrial complex. The term 'buzzsaw guitars' was made for this song, with some subtle complexes coming to the service the longer it drones on. It comes to a close in triumphant fashion, like victorious raiders marching from a burning village and fading into the horizon.
