CoC : In Battle - The Rage of the Northmen : Review

In Battle - _The Rage of the Northmen_
(Napalm Records, 1998)
by: Pedro Azevedo (9 out of 10)

The especially noteworthy first couple of tracks introduce In Battle's second album of blazing war-inspired black metal, and no track ever drops the pace until it's all over. Before listening to _The Rage of the Northmen_, I was aware of In Battle's reputation, but had never listened to their debut (which I will now undoubtedly seek); _TRotN_ turned out to be just about as fast and brutal as I expected, but also much catchier than I anticipated. This somewhat unexpected catchiness does take the album to far greater heights, together with the often incredibly fast (yet precise) drumming and vicious vocals. Every song just overflows with energy and the band (which has been reduced to a duo) shows remarkable skill at enormous speed. The production is neither too clean nor harmful to the sound quality, achieving a kind of sound that seems very adequate for the music. A -very- intense album.

(article published 1/9/1998)

ALBUMS
12/8/1997	S Hoeltzel	9	In Battle - In Battle