Nordic Black Metal at its finest! In the last years, although Black Metal still remains underground, we are surrounded by a lot of releases. Lots of bands, lots of labels, lots of subgenres. Stated that this is such a vibrant moment for Black Metal, we also have to admit that it became more difficult not to sink among this sea. For sure, our objective as reviewers is to guide our readers through great releases and good releases, since I don’t think there are bad releases but only bad moments. And “Veil Of Death, Ruptured” is definitely among those great and good releases. ASAGRAUM is a Dutch duo formed by Obscura on guitars and vocals (and also bass in the studio) and A. Morthaemer on drums (I suggest you to read the interview available in the interview section of our website in order to read how they manage the live sessionists’ matter and other cool stuff – such as the story behind the beautiful cover artwork). “Veil Of Death, Ruptured” is a really well written and produced Black Metal album with a little touch of melody in the guitar parts. The drumming is well placed and furious, while the vocals are pure raw screaming! The beginning is impactful – ‘Ignem Purificat Lilitu’ and ‘Fearless Dominance’ are straight and have no compromises. Then the first interlude ‘Opus Ad Errantem’ bridges to ‘De Verloren Tijd’, ‘Impure Fire’ and ‘Veil Of Death, Ruptured’ that we can consider as a solid block characterized by slow riffing and furious restarts. ‘Opus Ad Aeternum’ is another sulfur interlude that makes way to ‘De Waanzin Roept Mijn Naam’ – the perfect ending which encloses all the Black Metal atmosphere. As I said before, this is Nordic Black Metal at its finest since there are lots of typical elements from the Scandinavian scene: ASAGRAUM blends Norwegian Black Metal – such as MAYHEM and IMMORTAL – and Swedish Black Metal – such as DARK FUNERAL and GORGOROTH. Since I hope no one who is into Black Metal is a non-fan of the above-mentioned bands, I would recommend this to every Black Metal listener. For more information check out www.facebook.com/asagraum or www.facebook.com/edgedcircleproductions