In any event, _Alone Against All_ proceeds from the same punk-metal aesthetic that's grounded his post Thor's Hammer material in the last few years -- and although offering a cut of the same radical ideology, reputation can no longer attest to the performance on display. Subdued into almost dream-like melody (a point heightened by a slew of electronic interludes) the drums patter like rain over smooth transitions of guitar; fanciful gallops that mutate into tristful counterpoint, interweaving militaristic aspects with the poetical abstractions of black metal. The vocals remain talon-like, phrasing lines as if they were being torn from syllable to syllable, and you might expect the same vitriol reflected in the actual text. Perhaps the most thoroughly conceived work in this style to date.