BAL-SAGOTH — Battle Magic (review)

BAL-SAGOTH — Battle Magic album cover Album · 1998 · Symphonic Black Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
Mjöllnir
Once their inimitable style was solidified on the previous album, our new great kings of pomp filled extreme metal had only to temper this blade to realise its true potential. This they did with their third epic, “Battle Magic”. Though lacking the power of “Starfire Burning...” with a thinner sound on almost every front, in exchange everything is more cohesive and centred. Keyboards mesh with the basic metal instruments sometimes so entirely that you forget where this band’s sound is rooted, though the tremolo riffs and maddening drums erupt to the forefront enough to pull you back to black metal ground.

Conan the Barbarian-esque flourishes are still here, with more cheesy cosmic “moments” and breakdowns held together by the marching band style of the rhythm section. Byron Roberts continues to mix the haughty narration and black metal rasps, with the same success as before not to mention adding weight to the still highly entertaining fantasy lyrics. The format of the previous album is copied almost exactly, though the songs mostly have a different feel. There’s a keyboard track to start, straight in the middle and one to finish as before for instance. The second part of “The Splendour of a Thousand Swords....” (I’ll let you finish that one!) is present with their longest song title ever (another endearing eccentricity)

Love “Blood Slakes the Sand at the Circus Maximus” with its expansive and sweeping classical and film score character meshing superbly with fist pumping epic metal to create 8 unforgettable minutes with no need for any concise, manic speedy metal. I also adore “Return to the Praesidium of Ys” where Byron exceeds himself with manic narration and symphonic structure spiralling ever onward to the heavens.

You’ll have to abandon any set concept of how black, or even extreme styles of metal in general, should sound and just let yourself get absorbed to enjoy it. The effort is more than worth it, I can’t recommend this band enough!
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Deviance Deathcore
ASHES INTO BLOOD
Buy this album from MMA partners
Equilibrium Atmospheric Sludge Metal
BESRA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tension Between Rot And Genesis Sludge Metal
ANTHESIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Recycle Brain Crust Punk
C.P.G
Buy this album from MMA partners
Cartography Of The Mind Deathcore
TETHERED
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Besra – Unsullied (Music Video)
BESRA
Bosh66· 8 hours ago
Tethered - Breathe (Official Video)
TETHERED
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Saltwound - Walking The Blade (OFFICIAL VISUALIZER)
SALTWOUND
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Saltwound - The Negative (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
SALTWOUND
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Saltwound - Drowning feat. Taylor Barber (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
SALTWOUND
Bosh66· 1 day ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed