So if CARACH ANGREN's aim was to absolutely terrify me whilst I listened to this album, they achieved it within the first 2 minutes, with the very aptly titled "An Ominous Recording". Indeed, this is "Where The Corpses Sink Forever", the third full length release from the Dutch Black Metal masters, and it's pretty brilliant.

If there's one thing that's certain, it's that this band takes a very theatrical direction with their music, using their albums to tell stories rather than just having a bunch of cool songs smashed together. But the good thing here is that they don't overdo it - the vocals are still traditionally Black Metal, and the riffs are still heavy as anything, but they create a fantastic atmosphere that really unnerved me. The orchestral bits are really well done too, seamlessly integrated into the songs; they don't feel out of place and give the album a nice natural flow. To be fair though, they're certainly not the only Symphonic Black Metal band out there - it's definitely not a small genre - but CARACH ANGREN have the advantage over a lot of other similar bands in that, simply, they're better. Their music has got a lot of depth to it, and a lot of moments that warrant giving the album repeated listening in order to fully appreciate them all. It's these subtleties that really set CARACH ANGREN apart from the rest. It also warrants a mention that this release has landed them a deal with a fairly high profile label in Season Of Mist, so hopefully they will start to increase their fan base with this album.

It'd be difficult to pick out a stand out track from "Where The Corpses Sink Forever", as it really does all flow together really well, creating a story, an experience almost. And it's this factor that really engages the listener from start to finish. There's no doubt to the talent of these guys either, not just technically, but having the musical ability to put these compositions together with some fantastic songwriting, and not have it sound pretentious or ostentatious. Seregor's singing is excellent, definitely adding to the atmosphere, and his guitar work is amazing, with awesome hooks and riffs present throughout every song. Ardek's pretty much a musical genius, it takes a heck of a lot of skill to produce what he has on this album, and it's extremely admirable. Namtar's drums also make the atmosphere of the album that much darker, whilst being completely brilliant.

So whilst CARACH ANGREN aren't really treading any new ground here, for both themselves and the genre, they still manage to stand out from the rest with something just a bit special. If you want to be impressed by awesome musicianship, if you want to be slightly unsettled by an amazing listening experience, or if you just want some really good songs, then this is the album for you.