KHORS is a Heathen dark metal band based out of the Ukraine. Formed in 2004, the band has released five full length albums to date. "Night Falls onto the Front of Ours" is the band's sixth, and contains eight tracks. The opening to "No Oaths, No Tears, No Knees" is both ominous and destructive. There is a real quality of darkness and evil to the overall sound. The guitar parts are meshed together very tightly giving it a grand, symphonic sort of feel but without all the additional instrumentation. Vocals are harsh, angry and foreboding, promising you a bloody end to your existence. "Dead Birds Valley" loses none of the potency but gains a despondent quality, as if you were looking over the ruins of the Ukrainian city of Pripyat, following the meltdown of the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl.

The vocals are pure lamentations. There are nice surprises here as well, like the soft acoustic opening to "Following the Ways of Blood," which paint a picture of foretold doom for me. About half way through the track has a key change and picks up a swifter pace carrying to the end. The title track is the shortest on the album. It's a pensive acoustic number that is all about the atmosphere of suspense. I love the distant rumblings of thunder and light rain that close out the song. "1664" sees a return to the more brutal side of the music, with a ground pounding main riff driven by the hasted pace of double bass drumming. I almost feel like I am in the middle of an army of the undead preparing for war on humanity. "For the Last Time" has a more regal quality to the main riff, as if you are in the presence of the Lord of the Underworld. It's a slower, more grinding rhythm where the elements of darkness have more time to linger on your palate. "Slight Web Solitude" is thick and full in sound, with that familiar one-two note pattern of a lot of Black Metal, but with some changes here and there that keep it fresh. Closing the album is the longest song entitled "My Cossack Way," which clocks in at almost eight minutes. The bossy, dominating quality of their album continued strongly in this track, along with the overall element of the macabre. The push at the end of the song is also a strong culmination. I have to say that I am very impressed with this album.

Stylistically KHORS blends a few of Metal's sub-genres together nicely in to their own honest package. There are elements of black metal, death and doom metal and dark/extreme metal to name but a few, and it all blends together into a nicely polished evil sound. You can tell this is a seasoned band who know how they want to sound yet still have a lot of creative drive.