One more Black Metal release for the year 2007 (although this album was released in 2006). One more Black Metal release by Agonia Records. On the one hand, I don't know what to expect when I listen to a Black Metal album and on the other hand, I had so many blackened pleasant surprises that I just can't stop digging into the underground scene. Will this album be one more hidden treasure? I will have to find out.

ZARATHUSTRA were formed in the summer of 1996 (the worst season for a Black Metal band, I expected to see that they were formed during an ice-cold winter). They took their name from F. Nietzsche, author of Antichrist and Thus Spoke Zarathustra. This is their third full-length album and their first through Agonia Records (their first two albums were released via Undercover Records.

What is ZARATHUSTRA? Let's examine the historical meaning of the word. Zarathustra was a Persian prophet, the founder of Zoroastrianism, Persia's national religion until the close of the Sassanid period. As you may have understood, ZARATHUSTRA is a Black Metal band that bases its ideology and lyrical concept upon the ideals of F. Nietzsche and Nihilism. From the first notes, I realized that I was familiar with this kind of Black Metal and it reminded me of something, but I couldn't find out what. Finally, I remembered what it reminds of. ZARATHUSTRA play extreme Black Metal in the vein of bands like DARK FUNERAL and MARDUK. Basically, the are pretty similar to DARK FUNERAL. The blasts are everywhere and the drummer uses them almost all the time. The melodies are magnificent and they create a pretty evil atmosphere. Most of the credits go to the production. It really kills and I don't know what my opinion on the album would be if the production was shitty. Just imagine DARK FUNERAL with a shitty production! It would be totally lame!

Even though the production is great and the songs are pretty good, the band has a big problem. The album ends up being tiring from a point because the duration of the tracks is big and they are very monotonous. Since they don't try to play anything new and they just play what they like, I won't accuse them for that reason. It is just that their EP's seem much better just because there are fewer tracks in them. I mean, the album contains seven tracks and one of them is an intro. Those seven tracks last approximately 47 minutes! I didn't manage to listen to In Hora Mortis more than 3-4 times.

This album is only for people dedicated to nihilistic, monotonous and depressive Black Metal. ZARATHUSTRA released an album that must be listened by only the people who deserve to listen to it. Fans, go for it. The rest of you, better stay away from it!