1349 - "Revelation Of The Black Flame"

(Norway, Candlelight Records, Black Metal, 2009)

Norway's 1349 are back with a new album, but with a musical attitude a little bit changed; and I could say that everything goes in the right direction concerning this new baby born called "Revelation Of The Black Flame"! This time the usual Raw Black Metal was extremely well combined with some Industrial elements and with a slow touch that makes me wonder what will be the next step for this band. The use of the Dark Ambient lines and a few noise elements creates together with the ingredients I mentioned above a unitary whole very hard to describe in a few words. Produced by legendary Tom Warrior from Celtic Frost, "Revelation Of The Black Flame" is for sure the best album ever recorded by this extreme Metal combo; a combination between the elements taken from the older materials and a sublime touch of the modern age, all together hand in hand to present us the soundtrack of the millennium!
The vocal score is a little bit unusual for this kind of extreme Metal music; but it fits 100% with the musical content made by 1349, mostly with the darker and slow moments extremely well played by the Norwegians. Although it isn't for sure one of the most technical materials, this album introduce a melodically line that makes me proud to have the chance to listen such a great material! The use of the keys to create intros for each song was a great idea, and together with the extreme Metal parts is creating something that could be simply described as "music for the devil"!!! As I told you before the whole content it's so unusual that makes you to replay the CD several times to get the true feeling hidden behind the 9 tracks.
To be honest with you, "Revelation Of The Black Flame" surprised me a lot; mostly with this new musical line, but with an attitude a little bit different compared to some other bands playing mostly the same music. The cover artwork is the reflection of the darker sentiments, an image that leaves no space for some other words. With "Revelation of the Black Flame" 1349 surprise, amaze and establishes new borders for the Black Metal music, and it proves that using a combination between various elements taken from different musical styles could be the easiest way to get into the hall of fame! Respect and Hail Satan!!!