1349 | ‘Hellfire’

Just what has happened in camp 1349? After drearily blasting their way through two mediocre albums in as many years, it seems that things have changed drastically. 1349 have always been a love or hate entity, with their thoroughly old school approach to modern black metal. All well and good, if the song-writing is actually decent, which thankfully ‘Hellfire’ finally displays.

Opener ‘I Am Abomination’ is a shock to the senses, with unrelenting speed and aggression combining with a spiraling hook to set the tone nicely for the rest of the album. The biggest suprise of all is the accessibility of many of the songs - ‘Sculptor Of Flesh’ has, brace yourself, an almost punk feel to it, with a striding drum beat which you can’t help but tap your foot along to.

This is displayed through much of the album, with ‘To Rottendom’ illustrating the band’s new found talent for actually writing a decent song pretty much perfectly. The final track, a thirteen minute opus is anything but a slog, and is a welcome change from the usual pointless outro track which many bands seem to favour these days, displaying some nice progression and melody.

Of course, it cannot be said that anything found on ‘Hellfire’ is in the slightest bit original, but somehow the record has a certain charm about it which one cannot help but like. The production simply has to be slated though - whilst the underground, lo-fi approach was certainly expected, it seems that the producer has been intent on making Frost’s rather spectacular drumming sound like it was created on a computer, and tacked on when the rest of the album had been done and dusted.

While ‘Hellfire’ contains a few filler tracks (which may concern some, as there are only 10 songs on the album) the remainder are a perfect example of how decent black metal can still be made beyond the extreme underground. A welcome return.

4 / 5 - Mark McGarry::: 07/10/05