I relish the opportunity to sit down to some Swedish Black Metal, praytell a MARDUK gig is coming my way. But what we have in long-standing Blackened warlords MISERICORDIA is more than just blast-beats and bleak walls of guitar. Releasing their first studio album in 10 years, upon the end of 2014 we are to hear "Throne of Existence". Enjoy the cataclysm.

"Throne of Existence" introduces the album rather bombastically with a thin veil of clean, bleak chords that you might find on most MAYHEM albums, so sufficed to say I was blown apart with the following barrage of riffs. Introduced with an epic thundering, the drums took my by complete surprised. One of the fastest tracks on the record, easily matching the speeds found on BEHEMOTH's "The Apostasy" album, this opening track soars overhead and breaks through the empyrean realm. It should be evident by now, that the production for this album is in a near-perfect place, especially the drums, the snares resonating long in my mind. "The Art of Perfection" was an interesting departure from the frantic brutality of "Throne of Existence", and features creative and inspired arrangements, with more a seething, hateful decisiveness in chunky guitar runs. Whether or not the band is influenced at all by BEHEMOTH, I am hearing a lot of their sound in this band, particularly in the guitar tracking. It is by no means a criticism; I love it.

"The Salvation" turned out to be my favourite piece on the entire record, for the simple fact it dwarfs the other tracks in its imposing heaviness. If the introductory riffs were not enough of an aural steamroller, the glorious headbangery material that is to follow will suffice. What really blew me away, however, were the inclusion of bleak and mournful guitar melodies mixed into the track's choruses. It's not often you get to describe a track as equal parts heavy and beautiful. "The Righteous Order" takes a much more epic and expansive approach to songwriting. Atmospherics seem to be prominent, and it's introduced with a precise, methodical march, to some kind of cosmic cadence. Further progression down the line, it experiences frantic outbursts of blast-beat driven riffs, but the thrumming bass work generates shockwave upon shockwave to repeatedly pull it back to the depths.

I've heard this kind of music rinsed and repeated many times, but the fact is, it's phenomenal, and it's only right that one should require more than a passover to figure that out.