On the one hand, when I reviewed the latest DODHEIMSGARD, WATAIN and ROTTING CHRIST albums, I had some second thoughts regarding the quality of the Black Metal scene nowadays. On the other hand, there were also some Black Metal releases that justified my concerns about the weakness many musicians have to come out of the retro and underground Black Metal rules.

ENOCHIAN CRESCENT is a Black Metal band that was formed in 1995 in Finland. The band is mostly known for an accident that happened during a live show that ENOCHIAN CRESCENT was supporting EMPEROR. The singer did not realize how sharp a knife that he was holding was and he slit his wrists. He was then hospitalized for some time. Anyway, this album is the band's third full-length effort. An interesting fact is that the band was nominated in the Finnish Metal Awards for the 'Best Band' and 'Album Of The Year' categories.

To start with, I would like to say that even though ENOCHIAN CRESCENT's music is pretty nice, I don't think that they are good enough to be nominated in such categories. In my humble opinion, Finland has much better bands to nominate. Anyway, the band plays a style of Black Metal that combines the extreme blasts with the melancholic melodies. It is what you can call melodic Black Metal. There were some moments that the band reminded me of BARATHRUM and BEHERIT, as well as HORNA and the melodic stuff of ETERNAL TEARS OF SORROW. The production has fortunately nothing to do with the noisy underground stuff and is pretty good for what they play. The sound is sharp and heavy. The singer sings as if he just got out from a mental asylum, he is really psychotic. There are not many things to comment on this release. The only thing I have to say is that The Black Church Psalmbook is an album that you can listen to many times without getting bored easily. I think that pure blacksters will appreciate this release.

If you have been bored of the shitty and pointless underground Black Metal releases or the polished and melodic bullshit, this album may be a good solution to your problem. Even though it is not one of the best stuff I have come across in my life, it is an album that I may listen to some more times in the near future