siLLy puPPy The cast of GORGOROTH has been ever changing with only founder and guitarist Infernus appearing on every album. On the second album ANTICHRIST (originally titled “Død” meaning dead) Infernus picks up the bass as well as Samoth departed to play with Satyricon amongst others. The mysterious Goat Pervertor was replaced by Frost on drums and Hat only appeared on three tracks for vocals whereas Pest appeared on “Possessed (By Satan).” The remaining three tracks were instrumentals including the opening intro “En Stram Lukt Av Kristent Blod” (A Rank Smell Of Christian Blood) which is nothing more than noises made by some beast and ambient sounds.

Just from that title alone you can tell that the subject matter is pretty much the same as “Pentagram” with Satanic symbolism and lyrics usurping the Christian landscape in order to unfurl the flag of Lucifer full staff. Musically however ANTICHRIST sounds a bit different. True all the second wave black metal hallmarks are on board with the cacophonous din of buzz saw guitars, tremolo picking and full fury bass and drum assaults however the songs aren’t as aggressive at every possible second with “Wind” having some secondary Scandinavian clean folk vocals over the black metal screams of anguish. Neither vocalist has the pissed-off cat sound on this one. Both Hat and Pest have the classic raspy Darkthrone style of semi-screamed / semi-growled vocal style. Also this album is even shorter than the first barely clocking in over the 25 minute mark.

ANTICHRIST once again proves that GORGOROTH were the real deal following in the footsteps of Mayhem and Darkthrone and were displaying their full allegiance to the dark and Satanic underground of the black metal movement in full force during the mid-90s. While not substantial different than their previous album or their influences, there are subtle differences that emerge from the din. The song structures are less straight forward and dynamic shifts occur more frequently on ANTICHRIST but all in all a standard orthodox example of second wave black metal that is utterly uncompromising in any possible way.

The one exception would be the closing “Sorg” which demonstrates a completely new side to GORGOROTH’s sound. It begins with a rain storm and the tintinnabulation of church bells and slows down the tempo to doom metal turf only it still sounds evil as fuck with the black metal guitar tones and raspy shouted vocals. It also has the clean folk Gregorian chant type vocals to back it up. Just enough to add to the GORGOROTH resume on ANTICHRIST to separate them even further from the pack.

Warthur Gorgoroth's second album, whilst extremely brief, is a no-filler, no-nonsense black metal album which features the exit of Hat and (on Possessed (By Satan)) the arrival of Pest as vocalist. The contrast between the two vocal styles is intriguing, Hat's black metal shriek being shriller and to my ears a bit less forceful than Pest's mightier one, though the clean chant Hat experiments with on the closing Sorg provides a unique touch to that track. Also of note is the presence of Satyricon's Frost guesting on the drummer's stool, doing an excellent job replacing Goat Pervertor, who was notable mainly for having a hilarious pseudonym.

Aside from the closing Sorg, which is really more of a doom metal track with black metal vocals, what we are dealing with here is fast-paced and somewhat generic black metal in the classic second wave vein - True Norwegian Black Metal, as the cover of some editions proclaims! - which is competently executed but feels unambitious. In some respects this is a better album than Pentagram, not least because the presence of Sorg reveals a band a bit more willing to stretch its wings and explore beyond its comfort zone, but the band still feel at times painfully generic.