Founded in the 1996 in Gjøvik, Norway and with eight full-length and two EPs to their credit, you'd expect CREST OF DARKNESS to deliver a veritable cargo of blackened brutal metal on their latest album, "The God of Flesh." Not surprisingly, that's exactly what they do. "The God of Flesh" is thirty-nine minutes of murderous Black Metal executed with meticulous precision.

Reading through the history of CREST OF DARKNESS is dizzying to say the least. Let's just say there have been a few line-up changes along the way. I'm not sure what happened over the last three years since their previous release, but it must have been cathartic to have produced this behemoth.
There is something of an ascending pattern with this album. The first two tracks are straight-forward, rage-infused Black Metal. They are solid but not remarkable. Now don't get me wrong, these are some heavy tracks, but compared to what comes next, they are the warm-up routine. The middle tracks, three through seven, are like a mountain of sheer obsidian, though there is a short break at track five, "Forgotten." The final two tracks are the additional pinnacle you couldn't see due to the steep incline.

With that said, the most notable tracks are right in the middle. "Endless Night" is reminiscent of "Beyond the Black" by METAL CHURCH with its velvety entrance and iron box vocals. This veil is shredded upon Ingar's wrenching command to "Rise," and so the onslaught begins. The remaining four minutes are stunning. With fairly good production values, there is a clear separation of bass, riffs, solos, and vocals (less so with the drums) minimizing the undistinguishable grey fog prevalent in Black Metal. Next up is "The Spawn of Seth" which is just flat out incredible. Rebo's guitar work straddles multiple styles, from power chords to tremolo to machine gun riffs. Following is a short respite with "Forgotten," a synth-laden atmospheric piece, both soothing and unnerving. "Euthanasia" effectively gets you back into the groove, blasting in the riffs and then offering up a devastating solo at the end. "Blood" (also supported by a video) is a riff heavy track which slows to a Doom pace by the end. The last two tracks, "Godless Evil Eyes" and "Salvation in Hell," finish off the assault.

Downsides? As noted previously, the drums could have been articulated a bit more in the mix. Bernhard is too good of a drummer not to be featured in the foreground. Also, the meandering vocals that show up in a few tracks like "Salvation in Hell" are distracting. CREST OF DARKNESS is at their best when they set the thematic intent aside and just get on with the riffs. Thankfully, that's 98% of this album.