Some of you may not be familial with the band under the name SKITLIV. Well, it is time for you to start getting familiar with them, not only because of the gentlemen whose names have been written above, but for their music too.

Just for the record, SKITLIV, meaning shit life, was formed by ex-MAYHEM vocalist Maniac in 2005. During those four years, they've released a demo and two EP's before their first full-length album. Not many things are to be said about SKITLIV, since there are not many details about them available, except from the fact that they had some lineup changes as far as the drummer and the bass player positions concern during these years.

The ambient yet dark and cold big intro of the album is giving you a small fragment of what's to come. And so does the more-doom-than-doom starting riff of Slow Pain Coming. Their music? Dark, misanthropic and full of hate, just like the title of the album says, giving no room for misunderstanding. Sometimes words are difficult, if not impossible, to describe the feelings and the images that pop in your mind and that's exactly what is going on here. Maybe Skandinavisk Misantropi is not a masterpiece, but this album revives images and feelings that were sleeping deep in my mind. As for the vocals, you can listen to Maniac's characteristic blackened growls and the additional vocals from Gaahl (ex-GORGOROTH), Attila Csihar (ex-MAYHEM, SUNN O)))) and David Tibet (CURRENT 93) giving in the touch needed. The compositions are long in duration and since most of the times the tempo is slow it helps them to unfold.

This album was a surprise for me. To tell you the truth, I didn't expect something like this from SKITLIV. An album that the fans of Maniac will surely like. Skandinavisk Misantropi is an CD that you will probably not listen when you are not in a good (mentally and psychologically) phase. On the other hand, this release is between those albums being a perfect soundtrack for an occasion like this. You'll decide.