The irony is that, if anything, _True Norwegian Black Metal_ highlights the extent to which Gorgoroth have benefitted from studio trickery on past efforts. The latest take on "Destroyer" for starters doesn't sound nearly like the trumpet call of the Apocalypse that piledrived you into submission when you heard first. Nor does "Forces of Satan Storms" come anywhere close to being as potent or threatening as its album counterpart. By contrast, an overwhelmingly eerie "Possessed (By Satan)" provides a brief moment of respite from the mediocrity, and I'm still convinced that Gaahl is one of the finest black metal vocalists to flex his pipes for as long as the genre has been around. Still, at just a hair over a half hour in length and no real highlights to speak of, they could have saved themselves (and us) the trouble.