Many solo projects are born out of passion, a man or woman unable to meet their creative needs in current projects and/or are unable to find others who share their vision. Whilst many began during the global lockdowns, Bughuul formed BEZERKER way back in 2016, in the deepest darkest depths of Norway. Later, other permanent and guest musicians were recruited, and thus the group's debut album "Pereat Mundus" was born. I've been told to expect traditional Norwegian black metal elements with thrash and death metal inserts. Let's see.

The album opens with "Immanentization Of Eschaton". I would describe this a 10 minute ambient black metal journey. I definitely got some doom elements, especially with the extend 3 minute opening. I can see MGLA's earlier work influencing the bands sound. Whereas this song tips more towards the doom end of the spectrum, "Endzeit" is almost certainly more on the faster blackened-thrash end of the spectrum. Lightening fast blast beats, dissonant chord progressions, and demonic KVLT shrieks; this is what black metal is all about.

The band definitely pressed the ambient switch for "From Darkness We Came". This opens with a theatrical beginning, something like you'd expect from a horror movie's opening scene, just as the scene is being set and the credits are rolling. The drums kick in, then eventually the instruments and then vocals do. I get the feeling the band are slowly building towards a huge crescendo, as the intensity and volume slowly increases. Three and a half minutes in, and the blast beats begin. Yet I still think there's more to come. It's remarkable how effortlessly the band can shift between ambient and melodic, then full KVLT! Sadly, I do wonder if the song has been dragged and stretched out too far. Did they really need 8 and a half minutes (almost) to convey the message of this song?

I saw that "The Art Of Slaughter" was also coming in at the 8 minute mark and I had a mild panic. Is this really necessary? Although I've got to give credit where credit is due. Some of the grooves in this song are amazing. Blackened-thrash, much in the vane of BEHEMOTH or SATYRICON. At the mid-point of this song, Bughuul lets out an inhuman shriek, several octaves above where many mortals dare to go! Nasty. Also, I did enjoy the subtle use of backing tracks to this song. But again, song length guys!

The subtle use of dark wave sounding synths at the beginning to "Isolation" was certainly interesting. Bughuul varied vocal styles here too, with what felt like more of a half spoken vocal tone. Again, interesting. Although the synth track that creeps in and out definitely adds some much needed spice to the album. That got listened to a few times! If you wanted something more thrash metal, definitely check out "Awaiting Your Downfall". They weren't lying about their thrash metal roots here. "Sacred Putrescence" contains some interesting ambient and traditional black metal elements. This is either a regression and trying too hard to be like their idols, or a fitting tribute to said idols, depending on your view.

The final song of the album is the first and only instrumental, "Requiem". This added a very different ambient element to the album. It was nice to get a break from the vocals and let the instruments do the talking. A solid ending to the album. Overall, I think there's a lot to take from here. I think the production suffers from the same problem that many studio projects do, and lack that exterior influence. That objective second or even third opinion to identify areas for improvement. Also, as I've mentioned, the songs are needlessly long at times. I do hope the group do recruit more members and get this out of the studio as they definitely may be onto something here!