VED BUENS ENDE, DODHEIMSGARD, AURA NOIR, CADAVER INC., SATYRICON, ULVER, AUDIOPAIN, INFERNO, LAMENTED SOULS... These are only a few of the bands that these three musicians have been involved in. And don't tell me that you didn't shit your pants with the names you read above!

First of all, I guess that if this is the first time you come across the name Czral, then you have no reason to continue reading this review. Go check out his past, fall on your knees and ask for forgiveness from Black Metal and then come back here to read. VIRUS is a project Czral created after the fall of VED BUENS ENDE. After the Carheart debut, we were all waiting for the band's next move...

So, after five years, the Norwegians return with their brand new album The Black Flux. The band has signed a contract with the ever growing French label Season Of Mist and is ready to take over the Avant Garde Black Metal scene. What we have here is Avant Garde Black Metal at its best, with one of the masterminds of the genre behind the wheel, offering lessons to all those who still think that being noisy and grim is kvlt. Every single second you will be attacked by schizophrenic guitar riffing, bass lines that you have probably remember from... your worst nightmares and poetic lyrics that reflect the inspiration that is drawn from the other side of Czral. As we all know he nearly gave us a heart attack with his fall from the fourth floor of a building, but thankfully his is ok and back in action.

As he has said, even though the band is linked musically to VED BUENS ENDE, it shouldn't be looked upon solely as its predecessor. Up to a point I agree with the Norwegian madman, but if you already know VIRUS, you know that since there won't be another Written In  Waters, we can base our hopes on these guys to deliver something that will try to touch the magic that album offered. You still get Czral's haunting vocals and the almost psychedelic Black Metal sound of his guitar is all around this album. It was about time I listen to a killer release from Season Of Mist. I started worrying about the quality of this label's releases.