SAKRE is a Black/Thrash Metal band from Oslo, Norway. Formed in 2008, the band had previously released three full length albums. "Bogefod" is the band's fourth, and contains nine new tracks.

Though the production is bright, "Taken" is definitely within the Black Metal realm. Sometimes however the riff toggles back and forth and has a Thrash metal quality. The vocals are raspy and mid-range for the most part, spoken and shouted alike. "Blood of Men" further shows the crossover type of sound presented on the album. It's almost like traditional Black Metal has been updated to reflect some of the other re-birthed genres that are alive today. "Barrow of Torolv" is the first track with a totally different sound. The acoustic guitar in the beginning is just wonderful. From there it's a dark and murky song that moves along slowly with vocals that call out to you for help.

"Alternation" is a faster song where the riff sounds cold and sterile, and almost Industrial in nature. It still has a sinister quality overall, almost as if the Master of Ceremonies for a circus suddenly went dark side and everyone was fleeing in mass hysteria. "The Wicked Transient Sleep" makes good use of keyboards to add some layering and texture, keeping things more interesting for the listening experience. It also picks up pace near the end. "Burn" has a main riff that goes in unexpected directions at times but I love the semi-clean vocal passages where the instrumentation drops off a bit and opens up the song more. "Drawing" is a totally different song that features soft acoustics and strings, and with the pleasant surprise of a female soprano voice that sounds like a church hymn. It is really quite pretty and I like the way this changes some of the more linear tracks on the album.

"Evil Heir" however reminds us that this is no acoustic guitar laden album and comes back at you with a mid-tempo angry riff and a heavy dose of the macabre. "Sunken" is the closing song on the album. The riff ventures further into what is up to this point some uncharted territory, as it contains a few more notes and chords. There are also some echoing vocal effects when he sings "ashes to ashes" that definitely give the song some more evil. Overall I found this crossover type sound on the album to be fairly unique, but I felt that it was just teetering on the edge of breaking out but never quite did. The acoustical passages were great however and I found myself wanting to hear more of those. I would be interested in hearing more from the band in the future.Final Verdict: 6/10