Review by Ryan Harding

THY PRIMORDIAL: AT THE WORLD OF UNTRODDEN WONDERS Pulverized Records

This one took awhile to get States-side, and in fact was recorded over two years ago. The Swedish quintet may be back with a new album this year, but no hurry - AT THE WORLD OF UNTRODDEN WONDERS is more than enough to hold us for awhile. Ten tracks, fifty-plus minutes of melodic - and very fast - black metal.

Drummer Morth continues the persistent blast percussion style that he loaned to Dawn on the SLAUGHTERSUN album, and which worked such wonders for the last THY PRIMORDIAL album, WHERE ONLY SEASONS MARK THE PATHS OF TIME. AT THE WORLD OF UNTRODDEN WONDERS picks up where SEASONS left off. It's more than just a carbon copy, however. "Amongst the Chosen Lost" surprises with a sudden technical segue, boosting their already impressive speed precision. Vocalist Isidor decorates his tortured screams with a little clean singing, usually in the right places (and the right places aren't many, so luckily they don't overdo it). "Once on Fortunes Throne" and the title track are some other examples of the ideal THY PRIMORDIAL songwriting. They know exactly what they want and how to execute it.

Though they don't deviate from their trademarks, the near-hour running time doesn' feel inflated. Fans of DAWN (the Swedish one) and fast melodic Black Metal who haven't given them a chance are definitely encouraged to do so.

4 SKULLS

This review copyright 2000 E.C.McMullen Jr.

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