Veterans of the German Black Metal scene DARK FORTRESS are back with their seventh full-length album, "Venereal Dawn", the last album in which longstanding keyboardist Paymon is featured. Being released as a limited edition digipack, a two disc LP, and as digital download, "Venereal Dawn" is a much anticipated album, with a full four years having passed since the release of "Ylem". With a stunning yet haunting album artwork that depicts a burning apocalyptical world, "Venereal Dawn" is due for release in Europe on 1 September, and the very next day in America, with the limited edition containing an acoustic version of "The Deep". In some ways, "Venereal Dawn" follows in the veins of its predecessor, and in other ways carves a new direction; inspired by impressions of extinction and a dying world in which sacrifice reigns, the album follows a macabre and despondent path filled with putrefaction and decay.

"Venereal Dawn" starts out with a sombre guitar that is joined with an ominous voice and dirge-like drumming. The opening of this song very much reminds me of the recent direction taken by SATYRICON in songs like "The Infinity of Time and Space", but it is in these opening bars that this similarity ends; the title track quickly takes a darker and more threatening tone, following a mid-tempo pace that swells into a faster maelstrom, weaving tales of desolation interspersed with whispers of angelic choirs which make the dark that much more sinister, taking the listener through on a journey of hopelessness over a span of 11 minutes. This is followed by "Lloigor", a slower and more melancholic track which is saved from being lacklustre by the twist of madness which rips through it towards the end. This comparatively weaker track is however followed by increasingly strong ones, culminating in what is perhaps my favourite track of the album, "I Am The Jigsaw Of A Mad God", slotted in at the midpoint of the album, thereby providing a perfect pinnacle. With a frenetically paced tempo this song is a perfect blend between DARK FORTRESS's newer style amalgamated with rawer and more nascent Black Metal. Containing equal parts of searing ferociousness and ravaging coldness, this song captures the pure essence of everything that is Black. The final portion of the album indubitably continues in this more aggressive and fierce light, before capitulating and fading away in "On Fever's Wings". Beginning with a lilting piano tune which lulls the listener into a fragile serenity, this soon spirals into an agonizing march through the abysmal void. Female vocals accentuate the ritualistic feel, resulting in a mellowness that brings the listener back down to earth.

Overall, this is a sophisticated album: well thought-out, masterfully executed, and superbly recorded. In short, from start to finish a strong release which has managed to ingrain itself in my list of favourite releases of 2014. My sole critique is that it may be slightly too polished in some parts; if raw Black Metal is your personal predilection, this album might not exactly blow you away. But if you enjoy more experimental multi-layered melodies of morbidity and funereally chanted occultism, then this should be right up your alley. I for one can't wait for their upcoming European tour!