This one's about as underground as you can get. "Beautiful And Damned" is the first EP by Danish Black Metallers, SLAEGT (we couldn't get the æ to capitalize) and has been released on a label so obscure they have no website or Facebook page and seem to exist solely as an email address. Despite only being four songs in length, it still manages to be nearly as long as "Reign In Blood" and is the kind of Metal that should only be found lurking in winter forests covered in the ashen dust of burned out churches. It's a grim and melancholy listen, or at least it is except for when guitar player Olle Bergholz lets rip on his six-string and they start to stand out like Marty McFly at the Under The Sea dance.

Clearly, SLAEGT didn't get the message that Black Metal relies on tremolo riffs and mournful melodies, as they look towards Thrash for inspiration just as much as the usual suspects. The axe-work is fast, frantic and recalls bands like SKELETONWITCH rather than EMPEROR and combined with a grandiose funereal atmosphere makes SLAEGT into a more interesting listen than typical Black Metal. Sure, the lyrics are as downbeat and broken as the human experience can get, but just because you're freezing to death in the Scandinavian wilderness doesn't mean you can't rock out.

That being said, they're not exactly party animals either, and despite the enthusiasm to be found are still as grim and frostbitten as anyone featured in "Until The Light Takes Us." "Move In Chaos" has an introduction that sounds like the end of the world just entered the room while "Alshinecheri" is essentially a demon-vomiting maggot over un-baptized babies, even if it does feature a guitar solo that MALMSTEEN would approve of. "Church Of The Night" is a subdued instrumental and therefore offers a brief respite before the title track pushes your entire family in front of a Panzer Division and... Makes. You. Watch.

It's as dark and nihilistic as Black Metal gets but what sets SLAEGT apart is their obvious delight in playing. They've got a greater chance of getting lost in a forest while making a music video than they have of ever troubling the mainstream, but they do sound like they prefer playing gigs to killing people and that is as good a start as any.<