Reviewed - 08/10/05

Pariah
[Century Media]

Sweden's Naglfar (not to be confused with Nagelfar!) have been around for over ten years already? Wow, how time does fly when you get older, eh? I don't own a single Naglfar album. Zero, none, zilch! Why? I have no idea, but sometimes entire bands just slip through the cracks, you know? There's thousands of Metal bands out there and trying to keep track of them all is impossible, but I try my best. It sure is nice though when you come across a band you've heard about for a long time and find out you really like their music, just like I did with Naglfar and their newest album "Pariah". It's bittersweet actually because while it's nice to finally hear bands like this that you like, there's also a sense of lost time because you feel you should have been into them years ago. Oh well, better late than never, right?

The music on "Pariah" is speedy and almost raw Black Metal, but heaped with tons of melody and great musicianship. Marcus Norman plays on this album, and it really caught me by surprise to find this out. I love his other band Ancient Wisdom (well, the first two albums anyway) and thought that was all he did, but I guess not! Also, his guitar playing on this album is of a totally different flavor than Ancient Wisdom's music. Ancient Wisdom is slow, prodding and Doomy Black Metal, while his guitar playing (as well as second guitarist Andreas Nilsson) on "Pariah" is Black-tinged, speedy and melodic as hell. Both guitarists play with razor-like precision and the speed combined with a lot of melody really makes this album stand out amongst most of its peers. Thrash fans should take note as well as "Pariah" has its share of excellent Thrash moments! You'll be praising the Black Metal Gods that be all the while banging your head to the Thrash stuff. Fun for all! Naglfar's drummer Mattias Grahn is phenomenal. He's one of those drummers where it seems like he was born to play drums. The tempo changes and time shifts he pulls off sound so great and just seem second nature to him. And he can blast with ease without sounding sloppy - something few drummers can do. A few ambient sound effects are included along with some piano interludes to give the album a few moments of tranquility. At times "Pariah" reminds me of a Thrashier and more melodic "Black Door Miracle" era Ragnarok, but everyone else that listens to this album may say I'm nuts. Either way, the music is damn near perfect!

Vocalist Kristoffer Olivius does a decent job delivering the vocal rage to go along with the musical rage found on the album. While he's not the best vocalist I've ever heard, he does what he does as good if not better than most similar vocalists. At least he doesn't have a high-pitched screech that sounds like a woman being raped. More often than not he's deeper sounding than most Black Metal vocalists, and that's fine to me. He also uses a few vocal effects that keep things interesting. I can't really comment on the lyrics as they were not included with the promo. The promo sheet that came with the C.D. though said that the lyrics were about end of the World scenarios and their hatred for mankind. I don't think they would like to kill everyone off though. I mean, then who'd buy their albums?

The production on the album is top notch. As I said, I haven't heard any of their other albums, so I can't compare the production of their older albums to this one. But I can say the production on "Pariah" kicks ass. The drum sound will definitely give your woofers a workout.

Ralph Manfreda did the cover art for "Pariah". If you don't know him, look at some of your Pungent Stench or Belphegor C.D.'s and you'll know who he is. The cover art for this album is well done and has some nice and subtle lighting nuances. I can't tell if it was painted or of it is a C.G. piece of art, but either way it looks excellent. The cover shows a ghostly/spectral image being pierced with various knives. I wish I could comment on the artwork inside the booklet if there is any, but this promo didn't have that, and as I said the lyrics were missing as well. I guess you'll have to buy the actual C.D. yourself to see if the lyrics are printed in the booklet it comes with.

"Pariah" instantly made me a fan of Naglfar. As I stated earlier, I feel I cheated myself that I didn't get into them sooner, but oh well! I live in the here and now and will go and get their older albums and see how those sound. I've heard great things about their debut album "Vittra", so maybe that is where I'll start. If you're into pummeling yet well produced Melodic Black Metal, you could do nothing better than to add "Pariah" to your "to buy" list. One of the best albums of the year so far!