Formed in 2005, LIGFAERD are a Danish Black Metal trio who have just released their third full-length album, entitled "Den Ildrøde Konge", which roughly translates to "The scarlet king". This album, which spans three-quarters of an hour, centres around anti-Christian themes, as the name already implies. True, there is nothing more clichéd than a Black Metal band singing about Satan, but LIGFAERD seem content to stay within these well-defined boundaries. However, this does not imply that the band is merely stagnating. In the three years since predecessor "Dagen For Os - Natten For Eder", LIGFAERD have not only polished up their song-writing skills but have also worked on their overall sound. The result: a brutal and breakneck paced album that packs plenty of punch. In general, songs on this album are manic and fast-paced, combining catchy yet dirty riffs with a ravaging tempo. As the prefect example, "Under Uindviet Jord" stands out as being particularly ferocious, with diabolical melodies intertwining with a thunderous barrage of drumming. Even the interlude "Epitafium" at the pinnacle of the album offers no real respite from the bombastic onslaught, but merely sees the tempo taken down a notch. One of the downsides of this is that the music can seem fragmented and incoherent at times. Added to this, whilst the band have tried to incorporate different samples into their songs, this generally does little more than giving them a thin veneer of originality, although does at least add some interesting textures to the music.

Overall, LIGFAERD don't redefine the genre with "Den Ildrøde Konge", with a sound that has been heard too many times before to be labelled as anything innovative. However, they don't need to be ground-breaking to be good. "Den Ildrøde Konge" does contain some powerful and crushing songs, which are beautifully tempered by more melodic sections. Despite this, whilst I usually prefer to judge bands based on their own merit, there is just no getting around the comparisons with other bands on "Den Ildrøde Konge". With this album, LIGFAERD deliver a solid release, full of infernal melodies which are staunchly orthodox, especially when compared to the Swedish Black Metal scene. Their music (and especially the song-structures themselves) is somewhat reminiscent of the uncompromising pummeling onslaught that is MARDUK, although some influences of WATAIN are also discernible. Having said that, there is also an undeniable BELPHEGOR feel to LIGFAERD's music. Similar to their Austrian counterparts, LIGFAERD produce music which has a momentous, larger-than-life atmosphere, although this gets somewhat lost due to the less-than-ideal production quality. While I'll be the first to admit that a dirty production can go a long way in giving the songs a more sinister and aggressive atmosphere, this should not be at the cost of the sound of the instruments. Had the production been better and the arrangement of the songs been a bit more fluent and original, "Den Ildrøde Konge" would have undoubtedly been a monster of an album. Despite this, it's still worth a listen, as there are quite a few strong songs that will give you a proper pounding.