It's not often you come across something so paradoxical in music, such as a Christian black metal band. Or "Unblack" metal as I have discovered it is sometimes referred to as. SKALD IN VEUM hail from the land of Sweden, and deliver an incredibly raw and powerful black metal album in "Stridslysten". As confusing as a thing is to me as Christian black metal is, the album delivers an incredibly powerful sound. Starting with the opening track and title track of the album, "Stridslysten", you just get completely pummeled with blistering blast beats and ripping guitar riffs. The track hits the ground running and does not let up. It is pure adrenaline. There is even a thrash styled break in the track that adds another dimension to their musical prowess. "As Wolves Among Sheep" follows suit with its blistering speed but slows the tempo down with some military like drum cadences. There is even more brutality in this track but with the slower tempo you get to hear the band blend in the more prototypical darker sound of black metal.

"Stridslysten" is chock full of brutality. Even with slowing down the tempo in "Do What Thou Wilt", the harrowing high pitch screams cut like a knife and deliver that eerie black metal sound. The track continues to absolutely punish you with the beautiful guitar work and brutal blast beats even at a much slower pace. I found myself headbanging constantly to this album. "Goatwhore" delivers a more rock and roll sound to it while still carrying that black metal undertone. The fact that SKALD IN VEUM is able to blend so many other genres into their music while maintaining the black metal sound is quite impressive. Regardless of your feelings towards the lyrical themes of "Stridslysten", you should still check this album out. It is a pure and punishing black metal album that delivers heavily. SKALD IN VEUM might be going against the grain with typical black metal themes, but they sure know how to deliver on the brutality.