Nazghor's latest album is a thing of melancholy and unholy beauty. The atmosphere drew me in, and seemed to make time fly by. The organ-filled opening track, Hymnum Mortis, sets the scene for a ritual of a different sort.

For me, a highlight of the album was the guitarists' composing ability. These guys have a talent for riff craft. Armageddor and Angst create riffs which are interesting enough to hold up over long musical passages, but they also know when variation is needed. I felt that their talents reached their zenith on the tracks "Under a Venomous Spell", "Craft of the Nihilist" and "Road to Dead Meadows". While the sound is familiar, the songs are well-written and contain interesting transitions, which are ushered in by riff changes, or drum fills. On a more general note, there are touches of a melodic sound throughout the album, with clean solos and piano or synth parts making an appearance. All these elements work harmoniously together, and are well-placed in the mix.

Something I've always enjoyed about black metal is its ability to create a palpable atmosphere through the music. "Aeternum Regno Diaboli" is a haunting track with ghostly chanting which sounds like it's coming from a cavernous cathedral (or crypt). I was instantly reminded of a scene from the novel "The Ghosts of Sleath", in which a long-dead knight seemingly rises from his stone tomb. Closer "Death's Withered Chants" created a distinct feeling of the inevitability of the cycle of life and death. In contrast to the other tracks, this one has more clean vocals (which harmonise with a falsetto part) and a sombre, slow piano melody. Vocalist Nekhrid also brings the usual black metal rasps in this track, which he does with feeling. He is equally adept in both vocal styles.

When I first read up about NAZGHOR, I was expecting a raw, heavily distorted sound, but I enjoyed that the reality was rather different from my expectations. This album is well-crafted, and feels shorter than ten tracks because of the atmosphere which draws you in and distorts time.