Warthur Sometimes you need to go away to get a better handle on where you come from. Every so often, a band comes along who ends up going on a musical journey far away from the style which they originally made their names with, only to return to that genre and produce some of their best material within that format thanks to the broader musical perspective and the expanded range of techniques that journey has invested them with. Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride, for instance, drifted away from their early death-doom style for much of their middle career, only to produce some of their best albums in that vein once they came back to it.

Now, with The Last Will and Testament, Opeth have pulled off the same trick. For their run of albums from Heritage onwards, they've been more in a traditional progressive rock vein than the blend of proggy death metal and death-inflected prog metal that put them on the map. However, in the album preceding this one - In Cauda Venenum - echoes of heavier styles could be heard if you listened carefully, spurring speculation that they might one day make their big return to metal. That's what they have done here. Sure, it has plenty of quieter passages - but so has Still Life or Blackwater Park; unambiguously, The Last Will and Testament sees Opeth returning to the prog-death kingdom they founded, Mikael Åkerfeldt even breaking out old-school harsh vocals here and there alongside his clean vocals.

At the same time, this isn't a retreat to Opeth's comfort zone so much as it's a new departure. It's a concept album, like Still Life, but goes deeper into that territory than that album did, with an even bigger focus on presenting a narrative and even throwing in a touch of theatrical flair absent from that work. The story is all about a family who come together to hear the reading of the titular will - the final testament of their tyrannical, estranged patriarch. In that sense, bringing back the harsh vocals just plain makes sense - if you want to capture all these characters' perspectives, the more distinct voices the better. In fact, Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull fame not only provides some flute contributions here and there, but also throws in some narration here and there.

But where this really offers a departure is the way that Opeth's four-album expedition into retro-prog territories has polished and refined their command of the less heavy side of their sound, with quiet moments of folk-tinged or classically orchestrated music worked in to excellent effect. Having Anderson along for the ride becomes doubly appropriate, because whilst the style here is far from retro, it's learned enough lessons of the past to truly claim to be part of a musical tradition you can trace back all the way through Anderson's pioneering work with Jethro Tull (along with Anderson's other first-wave prog peers).

Maybe you love both classic-period Opeth and their more recent prog-embracing, metal-abjuring works, in which case you don't really need this review - you're going to listen to Last Will and Testament sooner or later anyway and you'll probably enjoy it just as much as the rest of their discography. But this is also an excellent album for anyone who's pickier about their Opeth. If you loved their metal-oriented work but felt that the albums from Heritage on went in a direction you weren't inspired to follow, then this may well be a great point to get back on board, because they're offering sounds here they've allowed to lie fallow for over a decade. If, on the other hand, you came onboard with their recent work but aren't quite keen on their metal side, this might put you off - but I'd encourage you to give you a try, because this might be the "in" you needed to really get to grips with the band's metal roots.

As for me, I think it easily slots into the top tier of Opeth releases. At the very least, it's their best metal-oriented album since Ghost Reveries, and it may well be on a par with any of their other studio efforts.

UMUR "Never, Neverland" is the third full-length studio album by US heavy/gothic metal act Unto Others. The album was released through Century Media Records in September 2024. It´s the successor to "Strength" from september 2021.

Stylistically not much has happened since "Strength". Unto Others are still a guarantee for high quality heavy/gothic metal. The songs are 2-3 minutes long vers/chorus stuctured and relatively easily accesssible. If something a bit different should be mentioned it would be the inclusion of the relatively hard edged and riff heavy "Momma Likes the Door Closed", but other than that song plus a few other heavier moments (the semi-thrashy "Flatline" is another), "Never, Neverland" is generally a pretty melodic and instantly sing-a-long type release often leaning closer to 80s influenced gothic rock like The Mission than towards any form of heavy metal.

"Never, Neverland" is a well produced release, although it´s lacking some of the heaviness and power of the two preceding releases. This is generally a more rock music oriented release and the production values naturally follow suit. The band (who´s lineup has remained unchanged since "Strength") is as well playing as ever and lead vocalist/guitarist Gabriel Franco still sounds like a more angry and potent Robert Smith (The Cure). Upon conclusion "Never, Neverland" is a good quality release from Unto Others, but to my ears not quite as great as the two albums before it. A 3 - 3.5 (65% star) rating is warranted.

UMUR "In Chambers of Sonic Disgust" is the fifteenth full-length studio album by Danish death metal act Illdisposed. The album was released through Massacre Records in June 2024. It´s the successor to "Reveal Your Soul for the Dead" from August 2019. There have been one lineup change since the predecessor as guitarist Ken Holst has returned to the fold after leaving in 2019 and not performing on "Reveal Your Soul for the Dead". Illdisposed are therefore a quintet again on "In Chambers of Sonic Disgust".

If you´re familiar with the last couple of Illdisposed releases the heavy and groove laden death metal style found on "In Chambers of Sonic Disgust" won´t be a surprise, neither will the occasionally more atmospheric and melodic death metal leanings surprise you much. "In Chambers of Sonic Disgust" is everything you expect to hear on an Illdisposed album in 2024. What is unfortunately a bit disappointing is the relatively powerless production job courtesy of Tue Madsen. It´s a detailed and as such well sounding production, but compared to the last couple of Illdisposed releases this one sounds a bit more tame and lacking power (the bass drums for example sound limb).

Unfortunate production choices or not, Illdisposed still understand how to write an effective and memorable death metal tune and "In Chambers of Sonic Disgust" features several songs which the band can be proud of. Upon conclusion "In Chambers of Sonic Disgust" is a solid release from Illdisposed but unfortunately not among their best efforts and a 3 star (60%) rating is therefore warranted.

UMUR "Serpent Devourment" is the third full-length studio album by Danish death metal act Maceration. The album was released through Emanzipation Productions in January 2025. It´s the successor to "It Never Ends..." from November 2022. "It Never Ends..." was a comeback album from Maceration who at that time had not released an album since the 1992 "A Serenade of Agony" debut full-length studio album. Maceration was originally a project band formed by two members of Invocator and "A Serenade of Agony" also featured the prolific Swedish musician/producer Dan Swanö (Edge of Sanity, Bloodbath, Nightingale...etc.) on vocals. Swanö also performed vocals on "It Never Ends...", but on "Serpent Devourment" he doesn´t perform, but is instead responsible for the mixing and mastering of the album. Since "It Never Ends..." almost the entire lineup has actually changed and it´s only guitarists Jakob Schultz and Robert Tengs (who has switched from bass to guitar) who remain from the lineup who recorded "It Never Ends...".

Stylistically this sounds very Swedish...the guitar tone, the mid- to fast-paced brutality, and the relatively simple structures of the tracks. I´m often reminded of especially Grave (and occasionally of Dismember), although Maceration add more gloomy atmospheric moments with lead guitar themes and solos. The musicianship and the sound production are top notch for the genre, and the songwriting is effective and relatively memeorable too, so although "Serpent Devourment" is neither a huge surprise (it´s more or less the naturel development I had expected since "It Never Ends...") nor a standout album in the genre, it´s a solid effort from Maceration and defnitely worth a listen if you´re interested in old school Scandinavian death metal. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

Warthur Talk about your dramatic turns of events! With Mike Portnoy returning to Dream Theater out of the blue and Mike Mangini bowing out with good grace (so far as we can tell), expectations where high for this album. It's not that the Mangini era of the band is outright bad, so much as it's rather mixed; A Dramatic Turn of Events was pretty solid, but their self-titled album was less celebrated and The Astonishing met with a serious backlash.

Notably, with the latter they abandoned their usual full-band collaborative approach to songwriting, Petrucci and Rudess handling all the music themselves and Petrucci writing the lyrics solo, further contributing to the sense that the well-honed Dream Theater creative engine wasn't quite working as it should. Then again, Distance Over Time and A View From the Top of the World seemed to find the band back on an upward swing - the question was, would the return of Portnoy reinvigorate the band or disrupt them just as their creative process was recovering from the weird experiment of The Astonishing?

Before you even get to the music here, you're confronted with cover art that seems designed specifically to build high expectations. Sure, it's a spookier, gloomier image than we've become used to from Dream Theater (though not so much that it feels completely uncharacteristic), but what really jumps out about it is that it's a big riff on the Images and Words cover; we've got an older girl stood next to her bed, and whilst the surreal features of the Images and Words cover suggested the colourful imagery of dream, here we're stepping more into the realm of nightmare.

So not only is this Portnoy's big comeback, but it's being set up as this big thematic sequel to the band's breakthrough album - if Images and Words was Songs of Innocence, this is Songs of Experience. Lyrically and thematically, this continues right into the album itself; "Parasomnia" is a term for a particular category of sleep disorders, and the songs here are all about sleep paralysis, nightmares, and other things of that nature. It's not a narrative concept album so far as I can tell, but it's definitely a thematic one, with the band taking us all on a thrilling trip through the realm of nightmare.

If the album's cover and lyrics showcase thematic unity, the credits suggest the return of the fivefold creative partnership responsible for the success of this lineup's successful run from Metropolis Part II to Black Clouds & Silver Linings. To the extent that Mangini got credits for songwriting, he did because Dream Theater typically share the credit for all of their musical compositions and generally only go for individual credits when it comes to song lyrics - which Mangini notably contributed much less of than Portnoy had. Portnoy's back on the lyrics again here, and one can only assume that he's settled back into making contributions to the musical compositions too, since all five men in this lineup had become well-used to workshopping ideas with each other.

All of this show of unity and co-operation would come to nothing if the music didn't hold together of course, and I'm happy to report that this is a decidedly strong Dream Theater album. It's not on the level of albums I'd personally put on the absolute tippy-top tier of the band's output - Images & Words, Metropolis Part II, and Octavarium - but it's a decidedly solid effort which refreshes their customary style with the combination of a well-defined and tightly targeted atmosphere and mood on the one hand, and on the other an injection of a few more gleeful retro-prog influences into the mix than we've heard on recent albums from the group.

One suspects Portnoy may have had a hand in that, given that he'd spent much of his time away from the group working with Neal Morse (both on Morse's own projects as bandleader and in more collaborative contexts like Transatlantics), and anyone who's that keen to keep contributing to Neal's prog projects probably has a healthy appetite for old-school prog stuff, but at the same time this isn't so much of a divergence from A View From the Top of the World as to represent an outright repudiation of that album, or the Mangini era as a whole.

Really, my biggest criticism of it is the needless Images and Words nod on the front cover - I think it's silly of the band to implicitly invite such comparisons when this isn't really a throwback to that era. The group aren't rewinding the clock here or pretending the last few albums didn't happen - they aren't hopping back to a pre-Mangini period, it's more like Mangini tagging out and Portnoy tagging in back in, the group carrying the lessons learned forward. It remains to be seen whether this new era of the band will have the staying power of the last time this particular lineup was all together - like I said, the Mangini era did start strong before it got into the weeds a little - but whilst this isn't a revolution in the band's sound, it's still a promising start.

UMUR "In Torment in Hell" is the sixth full-length studio album by US, Florida based death metal act Deicide. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in September 2001. It´s the successor to "Insineratehymn" from June 2000 and the band´s last album on Roadrunner Records. Deicide had long been dissatisfied with their record deal, and combined with internal strife beween the Hoffman brothers and Glen Benton, "In Torment in Hell" ended up being a rushed contractual obligation fulfillment release.

Stylistically it´s pretty much back to the brutal anti-christian/blasphemous death metal roots of the first four releases, after the more adventurous and different sounding "Insineratehymn" had challenged both themselves and their fans. The material doesn´t sound particularly inspired though, and the sound production is also on the thin side, so while there is arguably still a lot of quality here, "In Torment in Hell" does display Deicide in a less favorable light compared to the high quality performances and material on their early releases.

So upon conclusion "In Torment in Hell" is among Deicide´s least interesting releases, but since we´re dealing with Deicide, they are still able to sandblast your face with some brutal death metal and some angry blasphemous lyrics delivered in brutal growling style by Benton. "In Torment in Hell´s" most grave issue is probably that there´s nothing new under the sun, and that the band had done similar things before, which had more impact, power, and memorability. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Kołysanki" is the fifth full-length studio album by Polish music act Lux Occulta. The album was released through the Trzecie Ucho label in March 2014. Lux Occulta were originally active from 1994 until 2002, but in 2012 it was announced by guitarist Wacław "Vogg" Kiełtyka (Decapitated, Vader, Machine Head, Sceptic) that Lux Occulta were working on a new album. That album became "Kołysanki". Only Kiełtyka (who in addition to playing guitars also plays accordion on this release), lead vocalist Jarosław Szubrycht and keyboard player Jerzy Głód remain from the lineup who recorded "The Mother and the Enemy" (Lux Occulta´s fourth full-length studio album from November 2001). New in the lineup is guitarist Maciej Tomczyk.

If you´re familiar with the avant-garde extreme metal sound of "The Mother and the Enemy", you´ll know that Lux Occulta occasionally toyed with both jazz, electronic music, and trip-hop parts during that otherwise quite extreme and black/death metal oriented release ("Yet Another Armageddon" is for example a fully fledged female vocal-led trip-hop track) and on "Kołysanki" those elements are the dominant ones. You´ll find metal oriented sections here and there, but "Kołysanki" is predominantly not a heavy metal oriented release (although raw shouted vocals and a few distorted guitar riffs do appear on occasion). The tracks are quite experimental and feature a lot of interesting vocals (often in Polish) and effects. Regular vers/chorus structures aren´t really Lux Occulta´s thing. It´s not easy listening music by any means and it´s some of the more experimental works of an artist like Ulver I´m reminded of and also 70s progressive/experimental music artists like Robert Wyatt and Hugh Hopper (of course in a more contemporary setting).

It´s definitely an interesting, darkly atmospheric, and avant-garde oriented music release and it´s quite bold considering that Lux Occulta after all released four metal oriented albums before this one. I guess you could say that you were warned after listening to "The Mother and the Enemy", but "Kołysanki" does after all take the experimental ideas in a completely different direction and add other textures and jazzy electronic elements to them, so you are excused if you find this a confusing album. Confusing in this case means great, bold, and adventurous, and it´s obvious from the sound production, to the performances, and the intriguing compositions that Luc Occulta have struck gold and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

martindavey87 After a slow and steady upwards trajectory over the course of three releases, it seems that with 2002’s ‘Century Child’, their fourth studio album, Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish have refined their sound, and taken a huge step up in both critical and commercial success.

Treading the thin line between power metal and symphonic metal, the band have really hit their stride with this album, sounding more inspired and more confident than ever. With a strong emphasis on the symphonic and operatic elements, as well as additional male vocals to compliment Tarja Turunen’s voice, ‘Century Child’ has a much more well-rounded sound than its predecessors.

With great instrumental performances and an excellent production that really gives the music a rich, vibrant sound, there really aren’t many faults with this release, other than a couple of filler tracks, it’s all pretty stellar.

And with some absolute bangers such as ‘Dead to the World’, ‘End of All Hope’, ‘Bless the Child’, ‘Slaying the Dreamer’, the underrated ‘Feel For You’ and the obligatory symphonic metal band cover of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’, ‘Century Child’ displays a band who have really established themselves as one of the top bands of their genre, and is an album that belongs in every metal fans collection.

UMUR "Insineratehymn" is the fifth full-length studio album by US, Florida based death metal act Deicide. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in June 2000. It´s the successor to "Serpents of the Light" from 1997, although the two studio albums are bridged by the 1998 live album "When Satan Lives".

"Insineratehymn" sees Deicide meddling a bit with their otherwise relatively conservative formula. Roughly speaking the first four albums featured many of the same ideas and elements, but "Insineratehymn" sounds a bit different, as the band have opted to play more mid-paced and rhythmically different riffs and drum patterns. "Insineratehymn" is also a slightly more atmospheric release than the pummeling death metal madness of the four preceding releases. Some of the riffs are quite unconventional for death metal (take a listen to "Standing in the Flames") and the guitar solos are often also atmopshere contributors. What hasn´t changed are lead vocalist/bassist Glen Benton´s rough growling vocals and anti-christian/blasphemous lyrics. So image wise Deicide are still deeply rooted in that movement, which becomes apparent already on opening track "Bible Basher".

"Insineratehymn" features a well sounding production job, although it´s not as brutal sounding as the preceding releases. The rhythm guitars maybe lack a bit of punch, but everything is audible in the mix, and if you disregard what came before, "Insineratehymn" is a well sounding release.

So upon conclusion "Insineratehymn" is a good quality release by Deicide. After a couple of albums I began to wish that the band would challenge themselves a bit and try something different and when "Serpents of the Light" came out I was a bit fed up with the relatively sameness of the band´s releases, so in many ways "Insineratehymn" was a welcome change of pace and direction. I don´t think it´s a perfect release, and I still prefer what came before it, but it´s bold and relatively adventurous, which also earn Deicide points in my book. If only all tracks had been as memorable as the best tracks on the album (which they aren´t), "Insineratehymn" could have been a killer release. As it is it´s a good quality release, which shows a different side to Deicide and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Undead" is the twelfth full-length studio album by US, Florida based death metal act Six Feet Under. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in May 2012. It´s the successor to "Graveyard Classics III" from 2010, but unlike it´s predecessor, "Undead" is an album with new original material and not a covers album featuring death metal versions of classic hard rock, punk, heavy metal, and thrash metal classics. There have been a couple of lineup changes since "Graveyard Classics III", as bassist Terry Butler has been replaced by Rob Arnold (who also plays guitar on the album), and drummer Greg Gall has been replaced by Kevin Talley. Both members leaving were longstanding members of Six Feet Under. Lead vocalist Chris Barnes and lead guitarist Steve Swanson remain from the lineup who recorded Graveyard Classics III".

New blood has meant some slight changes of sound, and especially the addition of Talley has meant that the drum work is a bit more technical that usual on a Six Feet Under album. This is not to be misunderstood as if I said that the material on "Undead" is technical death metal though...not in the slightest. This is still old school groove laden death metal with brutal growling vocals, relatively simple brutal riffs, easily accessible song structures, and horror/gore lyrics. Talley just brings more variation and interesting drumming details to the music, which makes "Undead" a more varied album than usual from Six Feet Under. Not enough great things can be said about his playing. But knowing his past achievements it´s really no surprise. It´s just a bit unusual to hear him play music as basic as this. The rest of the band are well playing too and Barnes sound pretty good here too (although I could have done without the many effects on his voice).

"Undead" is a well produced album featuring a powerful, brutal, and detailed sound production, which suits the material perfectly, and upon conclusion it´s one of the better albums in the band´s vast discography. I´ll mention Talley again as one of the main reasons for that, but the material is relatively well written too, although there´s little here you haven´t heard before on preceding releases by the band. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "The Mother and the Enemy" is the fourth full-length studio album by Polish black metal act Lux Occulta. The album was released through Maquiavel Music in November 2001 and it´s the second Lux Occulta album to feature the two Decapitated members Wacław "Vogg" Kiełtyka (lead guitars) and Martin Rygiel (bass). Drummer Krzysztof Szantula left in the middle of the recording sessions and the remaining drum parts were therefore recorded by session drummer Gerard Niemczyk (Schismatic, Death Sea, Holy Death...etc.).

While a more abstract avant-garde direction was sometimes heard on "My Guardian Anger" (Lux Occulta´s third full-length studio album from November 1999), Lux Occulta have opted to take that direction all the way on "The Mother and the Enemy". The music is still somewhat in the symphonic black metal mold (although it´s now just one element of the band´s sound), but the abrupt tempo- and time signature changes and changes in riff style and atmospheres combined with quite a few creative and unconventional songwriting ideas (how about a jazzy saxophone break during "Architecture" or a fully fledged female vocal-led trip-hop track in "Yet Another Armageddon"), have arguably taken Luc Occulta in an avant-garde black/death metal direction. Some of the things happening on this album really shouldn´t work, but because Lux Occulta are as skilled and clever as they are, they sometimes make odd musical ideas work really well within the context of their relatively extreme and at times quite technical black/death metal sound.

"The Mother and the Enemy" features a powerful, raw, and detailed sound production, which suits the material well. "My Guardian Anger" was a great album in its own right, but Lux Occulta have stepped up in all departments on this album and "The Mother and the Enemy" is therefore an excellent avant-garde extreme metal release on all parameters. A 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

UMUR "Rated-X" is the debut full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Deranged. The album was released through Repulse Records in September 1995. Deranged formed in 1991 and released the 1992 demo "...the Confessions of a Necrophile", the "...the Confessions Continues" EP in 1993 and the "Upon the Medical Slab" single and the "Architects of Perversions" EP in 1994. So they had four minor releases under their belts before writing and recording "Rated-X". As far as I can see and hear, none of the tracks from the previous releases have been re-recorded and included on "Rated-X".

Being familar with the preceding releases by the band, it´s great to hear how much they have developed both their songwriting and their performances since forming in 1991. The first couple of releases were a bit amateurish and while the last couple of releases before "Rated-X" definitely showed progression and featured more professional sounding production jobs, they still lacked something to give them the last push. That something is present on "Rated-X" which is a well written, effective, brutal, and energetic US influenced brutal death metal release. Sure the songwriting and the gory lyrical themes are slightly one-dimensional, and Deranged aren´t the most unique sounding band in genre, but this is still damn savage and powerful sounding death metal.

One of the things which makes this work so well, are the many tempo changes. While Deranged can blast away with the best, they are also very successful in writing heavy death metal grooves and mid-paced parts which are brutal and heavy (just take a listen to the closing minute of "Black Semen Vengeance"). There´s little here which can be identified as melodic, but there´s still some hooks here and there to hold on to. The vocals are unintelligible (for the most part) growling vocals.

"Rated-X" features 10 tracks and a total playing time of 40:07 minutes. 9 of those tracks are originals, while the closing track is an unlikely cover of "Paint It Black" by The Rolling Stones (performed in a pretty brutal death metal version). The closer is a bit of a gimmick track really, and I´ll primarely rate "Rated-X" based on the original material written by the band. Featuring a detailed, raw, and brutal sounding production job, "Rated-X" is overall a good quality brutal death metal release and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "My Guardian Anger" is the third full-length studio album by Polish black metal act Lux Occulta. The album was released through Pagan Records in November 1999. It´s the successor to "Dionysos" from November 1997. On this release Lux Occulta have been joined by the two Decapitated members Wacław "Vogg" Kiełtyka (lead guitars) and Martin Rygiel (bass). This was before the release of Decapitated´s debut full-length studio album "Winds of Creation" (released in April 2000). Kiełtyka was only 18 years old and Rygiel 16 years old when they recorded their parts for "My Guardian Anger".

Stylistically the material on "My Guardian Anger" is symphonic black metal, but it´s quite different from the symphonic black metal style found on the two preceding Lux Occulta album releases. Lux Occulta have opted for a much heavier, riff oriented, and varied black/death metal style to be the basis of the music while the symphonic keyboards add texture on top along with the snarling black metal vocals and occasional death metal growling. It´s quite busy music and the soundscape is often chaotic and furiously fast-paced and blasting. There´s also a progressive edge to the songwriting and "My Guardian Anger" contains just about everything the first two albums didn´t...

...professional sound production values, intriguing and varied compositions, and above all high level musicianship. It´s not that you´ll find much here that you haven´t heard other symphonic black metal bands bring to the table, but the flawless performances and the creative songwriting make up for a lot of that. "My Guardian Anger" is a high quality release from Lux Occulta and to my ears it feels like a rebirth of the band after the first two relatively anonymous albums. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Architects of Perversions" is an EP release by Swedish death metal act Deranged. The single was released through Repulse Records in September 1994. It´s the successor to the 1994 "Upon the Medical Slab" single and it´s the band´s fourth minor (non-album) release since forming in 1991.

The material on "Architects of Perversions" pretty much continues where "Upon the Medical Slab" left off. This is brutal death metal featuring gory lyrics and a combination of guttural unintelligible growling vocals and the occassional higher pitched snarling screaming. The pace varies from slow, mid-paced, fast, and blasting. The music also features some pretty basic leads, which aren´t that interesting, but I´m sure they are there to create some variation.

The sound production is decent, but unfortunately a sligth step down in quality from the sound production on the "Upon the Medical Slab" single, which is a really well produced release. Upon conclusion "Architects of Perversions" is another decent early release by Deranged, and it´s recommendable to fans of early 90s brutal death metal. It´s not particularly unique or offers something out of the ordinary to the listener, but it´s decent enough for what it is. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Dionysos" is the second full-length studio album by Polish black metal act Lux Occulta. The album was released through Pagan Records in November 1997. It´s the successor to "Forever Alone, Immortal" from 1996.

Stylistically the material on "Dionysos" continues the symphonic black metal style of "Forever Alone, Immortal", but this time with more focus on the symphonic keyboards. It´s still pretty raw and basic black metal underneath the symphonic keyboards and the vocals are also pretty standard blackened snarling (with the occasional death metal grunt appearing to make the vocals more varied). Although Lux Occulta don´t reach the heights of Cradle of Filth, it´s the more well known British band I´m often reminded of while listening to "Dionysos".

While "Dionysos" is only slightly more professional and interesting than "Forever Alone, Immortal", there has been a lift in quality since the rather amatuerish debut album. "Dionysos" may not be the most intriguing or the most creative symphonic black metal album out there, but it´s overall a decent release featuring a decent quality sound production, relatively strong musicianship, and decent (but not excellent) songwriting, and a 2.5 star (50%) rating isn´t all wrong.