Sometimes you want to travel back in time and remember how things were. In order to do that you need a reason or in this case a band that will press the ignition button in the time machine. In this case behind the button we find THE BLACK that hails from Sweden. This act formed back in the 80s when everything was in the womb of VENOM and a couple of years later inside Quorthon's mind. The Swedish band self released two demos and after 12 years the first full length The Priest of Satan with a really cult artwork.
This time THE BLACK waited 15 years until Alongside Death was complete to surface up from the very depths of Hell (quoting from VENOM's legendary concert introduction). This is exactly the description that fits this old school Black Metal album. And when I am saying 'old school' I mean everything that it represents; from the high pitched guitars, the out-the-well vocals and the solid blast beats that revealed many great drummers in this scene. On The Descent To Hell the band does exactly what the title is saying; it takes you down to Hell with a fast tempo, screaming vocals and some early BATHORY guitars. There is absolutely no room for outsiders here; no fancy keyboards and no crystal clear production just raw power. The Satanic atmosphere we all loved from the 90s lurks in every corner of this album from the tormenting Death's Crown to the mid tempo of Death Throes. Indeed this is exactly how Black Metal used to sound and based to the core fans they it should be. No offence to CRADLE OF FILTH or DIMMU BORGIR but THE BLACK write the letters in Black Metal in capitals. I mean the microphonics in Fleshless are nothing more than cult (or occult if you prefer) while the lead guitars will blast your ears off!
I do not want to write anything more here. THE BLACK are back to re-establish their name in the Black Metal scene with an already classic album. I could not but comment on the simply yet evil-as-hell artwork that has an inverted cross in a Blairwitch Project format. One more thing; they should have used the difficult-to-read logo because the simply THE BLACK writing is not old school...