And so we see the continual decline of one of black metal's former greats to the level of a sub-par over-angry punk band. Avoid this tragedy at almost all costs, if you, like me, are a big fan of the Darkthrone that gave us such BM classics as transylvanian hunger, under a funeral moon, and a blaze in the northern sky.

This is an album with almost no reedeeming features. However, I feel a little mean saying that about an album that still broadly falls within the rock/metal end of the music spectrum, so i'll put it like this:

This album is almost certainly better than Britney Spears' latest. If that is enough for you, then buy it. If not, stay away.

Blaze is back. I think I shall say right off the bat that if you like metal, you should buy this album. simple as that. It will seep itself into your soul with an infectious quality that is almost unreal, and not let go. For the first two or three weeks after this album was released, I listened to it at least once a day, every day. This is the good news: it is teriffic, and may shape up to be one of the better classic metal albums of this decade.

now the bad news: it isn't as good as The Man Who Would Not Die. The Blaze Bayley band set themselves an almost impossibly high benchmark to follow with that release, which for me was the best metal album of the previous decade. With such an act to follow, they inevitable fell a little short. What is surprising, though, is how close they came to overturning my expectations and bettering their best.

My biggest piece of advice with this album is not to be disheartened by your first listen. For some undefineable reason, this isn't an instantly accessible album. But give it a couple of listens, there is definitely something in there. By the time you play it for the tenth time, you will be singing its praises as much as I am. It's a grower.

Indeed, after giving it this opportunity to fill your soul completely, it even becomes difficult to pick out weak tracks - my biggest initial criticism of the album is that it seemed to contain some 'filler', a criticism which would be simply impossible to direct at TMWWND. But, having given the disc a few spins, it is hard to detect any noticeable drop of quality anywhere, except for maybe 'time to dare' (which is still a chest-beatingly strong metal track, I just don't connect with it in the same way as I do with most of the other tracks).

The top tracks here are definitely the closing 4, which should be treated almost as one track. Blaze definitely pulls out a real surprise with the acoustic and beautiful 'surrounded by sadness', which then moves into 'the trace...', my very favourite track on the album.

Clearly, this is a work born almost directly from Blaze's personal tragedy, making it a very dark album, but, in its darkness, it may also bring you hope. Listen, and read the liner notes (it's worth actually buying this one rather than downloading it, just for the liner notes...) and you'll see what I mean.

Overall, definitely a metal must-have, as long as you are prepared to give it a couple of chances. I can't wait to see him playing it on the road - he is one of the very best, most genuine, and most intense live perfomers I have ever seen.

So, Varg Vikernes is out of prison, at last. Which means a new Burzum album, in which Black Metal's most infamous protagonist eschews the style of his prison years, and returns to the 'evil guitars and angry vocals' formula of the days before his incarceration. Though Mr Vikernes claims to now reject the entire black metal scene, this is clearly a black metal album more than it is anything else.

Which isn't to say there is no subtlety here - this isn't the lo-fi noise of angry 90s norwegian teenagers. This album still retains an ambient undertone, and the production values have clearly improved from earlier releases. Burzum is not afraid to allow his music to be beautiful, when it needs to be.

The album overall is, in fact, possibly the best thing Varg has done yet. It is an album that steps up his use hypnotic, pulsating repetition beyond breaking point, pushing the listener at times over the edge into some sea of serenity beyond madness, especially on the epically wonderful closing track.

my advice: buy this now.