Review Summary: An amazing british black metal album that sounds like it was recorded in Norway in the early 90s. But this is more than just a tribute the songs on "I Speak Of The Devil" are absoloutly flawless!
The first time i listened to this album i didn't know what to make of it to be honest. Like a lot of extreme metal in general this is definitely something that you have to listen to and absorb, it definitely couldn’t be background music put it that way. So I listened, listened and listened some more each time discovering new things in each song, becoming more and more absorbed with the cold bleak atmosphere that Blutvial create. After the last time i listened to this album i spent a good few minutes having to readjust to my surroundings afterwards. Such is the journey this album takes you on which then compelled me to write this review to let people know what a cold dark jewel this album is.
The album starts with a hellish scream backed by a cold wall of distortion which fades into the opening riff of “full moon possession”, which pulls you in from the start until the drums come in a short while later with blast beats that pin you to the wall. This is pretty much everything you could expect from a good opening track as it is just completely unrelenting in its assault. But alas this is no simple blast fest this album peaks and troughs (not in quality I must say) twists and turns taking you on a scary nightmare of a ride.
From the appropriately titled “raging winds” which is just a brilliant blasting black metal song through the doomish funeral march of “1584” to the punkish ferocity of “serpent procreation”. This album never lets up throwing different twists on every track just when you think you know where it’s all going they decide to throw a slowed down doom like passage like at the end of “seethe my darkness” or they go the opposite way and blast beat you into submission. This album leaves no stone unturned as they plumb the depths of black metal to give you everything musically they can, and the vocals, oh the vocals sound like somebody being tortured to death (in a good way). The rising tension and madness at the end of “seethe my darkness” is utterly terrifying!
Production wise this one is going to keep the lovers of the Norwegian sound very happy indeed, sounding like it was recorded in Norway during the second waves golden period with all the cold and pitch black darkness you could want with an admittedly slightly clearer guitar tone creeping through the distortion. All things said and done this is a brilliant black metal album that any fan of the genre will love.
