A great warehouse for Black Metal bands is Finland. Since names as IMPALED NAZARENE and BEHERIT were born, the country produced many excellent names (even if you don't know some of them). To hear the new album of an ancient band as ALGHAZANTH is a pleasure. It's their eighth album, and it's called "Eight Coffin Nails". For those that miss the old days, I have to tell you: this album is for you. It's that sharp and crude Black Metal sound of the 90's, but with melodic aesthetics (the keyboards reinforces the morbid and brutal old grasp of their musical work), and they are really creative in terms of musical arrangements. How lovely is the energy that flows from their songs, all of them being great moments.

Harsh and grim, the sound production is what a Black Metal band with old roots need. But don't get the wrong idea, because you can understand what they are playing and what their songs mean. It's the old and good "ugly aesthetics" working again, and giving us good fruits, indeed. The rawness comes from the tunes, because the band tries to be as clean as possible. It's their last album, because the band will end their activities. So what we have in hands is their last testimony of dark arts, and songs as the nasty "Self-Exiled" with its great and morbid essence (and very good vocals and melodies), the brutal grasp of the fast tempos presented on "Facing the North" (but how lovely is its morbid slow parts, presenting a fine work from bass guitar and drums), the expressive harshness of "Aureate Waters" (these shrieked vocal tunes are a Finnish trademark, and how great they sound), the classical Black Metal approach used on "The Upright Road" (once more, excellent melodies) and on "The Foe of Many Masks", and the long and funereal scent of "To Flames the Flesh" are here to state that a great band, that deserved more attention of extreme Metal fans, existed on Finland. Maybe it's better to say that the world is losing an excellent band in a moment that we need creative veterans as them.

After 23 years of existence, ALGHAZANTH is going to rest, so we must thank them a lot for their musical contributions. Rest in glory, and "Eight Coffin Nails" is testimony to a Metal record that comes around only once in a while.