If you thought that Rhapsody and Lacuna Coil were the only bands Italy has to offer, you are so wrong, you can now add Stormlord to list and to say they very good is the understatement of the year.

This six piece Black Metal band are similar to early Cradle Of Filth with a bit of latter day Dimmu Borgir thrown in for good measure and this is as good= as any of the current releases of either band, if not better.  The quality of the writing is exceptional considering this is only their 3^rd CD; it took Dimmu and Cradle twice that amount of albums to get this good.  The mix of classic Black Metal, with modern touches, makes for a very interesting listen, couple this with Christian’s superb vocal talent and the fact that all the songs stay true to form without selling out but still have melodic touches, is a minor miracle.

The songs "Dance Of Hecate", "Medusas Coil" and "Under The Boards" are true Black Metal masterpieces, oh and listen out of a totally inspired version of "Moonchild" the Maiden song; The band are shooting a video for the "Under The Boards"as I write this, (July 2004) so watch out for it.

TOTAL PLAYING

TIME = 45 mins + 10 TRACKS + CD ROM