Warthur
What is it with symphonic black metal bands going for the cheesy Casio keyboard sound? I mean, I get the whole lo-fi aesthetic, I really do - I wouldn't be so keen on Ulver's third album otherwise - but I don't think it necessarily works once you try to go for a symphonic sound or start adding synthesisers to the mix. (In particular, it's kind of a cheap shortcut to use Casio keyboards to attain a lo-fi sound - sure, they'll sound crappy, but they'd sound crappy even in glorious high-definition hyper-sound.) When you're trying to be the black metal Wagners which Fanisk want to be here and you pull out the Casios the end result is just kind of pitiful.
Oh, and if it's the sort of thing that bothers you these guys have a fairly National Socialist slant to their lyrics here - well, you guessed that from the cover art, right? Specifically, it's a concept album about meditating on the glorious inner meaning of the Swastika. Now, of course the Swastika is a truly ancient symbol which the Nazis appropriated and applied their own meaning to... but I don't hear much in the way of in-depth Hindu or Jain or Buddhist or whatever spirituality on here, and that sure as shit isn't an ancient-style Swastika they're presenting on the front cover. Word of advice, guys? If you want to use the tired old "but the swastika is older than the Nazis, we're talking about its ancient meaning" excuse, don't be using a Nazi-styled swastika for that purpose because it kind of makes it obvious how full of shit you are.
