All fans of nordic Black Metal can cheer rapturously, because AZAGHAL’s newest full-length CD is out now and it is great! The sound is fantastic, raw and very powerful, the riffing is often very Thrash influenced and the typical Finnish wickedness surfaces as well. The latter manifests in a few passages with clean or slightly distorted vocals (e.g. in track 3 ‘Reign’) or some weird guitar melodies in the background (‘Welho’), but don’t be afraid!!! Those elements do not disturb the true frosty feeling or the brutal speed attacks of "Of Beasts And Vultures", but create an individual, original note. In my opinion those small surprises make AZAGHAL not only a bit more interesting, but also enables the Finnish horde to stand out of the hundreds of DARKTHRONE or MAYHEM copies. "Of Beasts And Vultures" is full of variation, speed and hateful emotion – intense, rousing Black Metal. The album’s highlights are ‘Kaikki Eläva Kuihtuu (All Life Withers)’, which features a wonderful acoustic guitar part, the short and brutal Thrash attack ‘Verenajano (Bloodthirst)’, including an eerie sample from the Horror classic "The Exorcist", the atmospheric instrumental ‘Epilogue’ and the cool BATHORY Cover ’13 Candles’, which easily tops SACRAMENTUM’s attempt at it. Be sure to check out this CD, it will not disappoint any fan of nordic Black Metal and especially fans of the wicked Finnish style should get along with this pretty well. "Of Beast And Vultures" is cold, raw, brutal and hateful and I think will fascinate a long time, because AZAGHAL have improved and elaborated their unique style and feeling and created some interesting songs. Surf to www.evilhorderec.com to listen to a MP3 file of this album. Contact the band through the following address: AZAGHAL c/o Kalliola, Kaskentie 3 as.1, 05840 Hyinkää, Finland, Email: tomi.kalliola@pp.inet.fi