This is Austrian black metal squad Hellsaw’s third opus, and with an album title such as ‘Cold’, one may perhaps expect a raw 1349 style attack on the senses, and whilst this sometimes leans on the frosty grim side, there is a lot of depth to this release. There are some acoustic moments, such as the intro to ‘A Suicide Journey’, which takes some cues from post-rock in some of the warmer bass lines, and indeed things do verge on suicidal black metal, especially on ‘Sulphur Prayer’, which contains some agonised mumblings over a slow-paced instrumental.

 However, things can turn nasty in a hurry. Svart’s drumming is a disciplined battering, resembling the ultra-violent speeds of Gorgoroth and Dark Funeral, so fast at times it resembles someone blowing across the top of a bottle. The guitar work of Aries ranges from a fret-melting tremolo to a power chord black n’ roll attack, such as on ‘I Saw Hell’. The mid-paced elements come across as a non-symphonic Emperor, especially in ‘Der Harzwald’ when a choir-like vocal accompaniment is used.

 This is anything but a standard black metal release, with a large variety of sound implemented throughout. Such a large number of styles on one album will probably piss off the purists, but when it sounds this good, who cares?

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