SACRIFICIUM CARMEN formed in Finland in 2009. A Black Metal quintet, they present their third full-length album here titled "Nekrognosis - Avian Varjoihin," which contains nine new tracks. "Fraktaalimessu" leads off the album. It begins with some nefarious tones before the march from Hell starts. The vocals are interesting...sometimes guttural, and other times high-pitched screams. As expected, the production is muted. Amidst the guitar chaos, a spastic lead comes in. "Baphomet siemen" begins with a wall of guitars up and down the scale. The drums are blast beats, continually present and in your face.

"Ihmiskunnan inho seuranain" begins with dark background music that gives way pretty quickly to another chaotic sound. Harrowing elements abound, as the band is attempting to create the music to be as scary as possible. "Azrael" is the infamous Angel of Death in many religions. The slower pace of this song allows the evil elements to soak in more deeply. Brief spoken words come in for a spell. "Kultasielu helvetin" begins with some ambient background music, mostly from what sounds like keyboards and whispered winds. From there, a similar blueprint follows. The instrumental passage ushers in a key change.

"Erakkotemppelin ilmestyksiä" opens with a faster-moving song that is full of a lot of various instruments. As is often typical in the genre, the guitars and drums drown out nearly everything else. "Mefistofeleen kuu" begins with more chaos. Guitars and drums attack you like a swarm of bees, stinging you over and over until death. It gathers steam and rolls right over you, passing by like a freight train headed for the mountains yonder. "Haudankajossa, soturi & näkijä" closes the album. It opens with a slower, more depressing groove. Harrowing elements swoop in and cover the song in scary tones. Towards the end, the sound drops off mostly, leaving only atmospheric tones to complete the song.

This is old school, FWOBM nonsense, with at least some interesting riffs and production value. The musicianship isn't bad actually. But seeing as how they insist on sticking to formulas used in the past, over and over again, it offers nothing to the advancement of music whatsoever. It's an honest effort, but falls short.