OUIJA, first of all, I've got to say, that's a damn cool name for a band, ok, moving on. This band has actually been around for a while, hailing from Spain, the Black Metal quintet originally formed in 1995, however they split up soon after releasing their debut album, The band reformed in 2009, releasing an EP a year later and now completing their journey back with their second full length album.

The album opens with "Lords Prayer", a slow and demonic sounding welcome to the album with vocals very reminiscent of those on TIAMATs masterpiece "Clouds". The band however wastes no time in a full blown Black Metal assault with "The Serpent Calls Me", one striking thing about the record, is that despite its classically styled brutal Black Metal, there's a lot of melody in the music, the guitar work is top notch and adds a lot of melody, the slight tempo changes also make this album far more palatable for those who would generally not touch the harsher side of the Black Metal genre. Another thing which is interesting about the record, is that despite the Black Metal vocal style, at many times the lyrics are understandable, (granted not all the time, but this is a Black Metal album after all), and that makes the album more enjoyable.

One thing that I certainly have to mention is that the production is much better than that of many bands working in the genre today trying to copy the "old school" production, which really shows that this band has been around and knows what it's doing. Don't get me wrong, the album is far from perfect, it has its short comings, it's not exactly overflowing with originality, however the songwriting, performance and production make up for that and this is a very enjoyable album.