I first ran into BLACKHORNED when Atziluth began to record his infamous demos back in the beginning of the 00s. I had been following the beginning of RAVISHING, the Death Metal band where he at the time handled the drums, while he in the dark was fiddling with his inner desires and black recollections, that became BLACKHORNED. I’ve been stalking the band more or less since, might have missed a release or 2 lately, and that’s about it. The band started out with some simplistic dark and cold Black Metal with a hint of Thrash in the riffs, though that didn’t really come through, due to the thin and blazingly cold demo recordings, something I liked and still do. Later on the thrashing madness in the riffs came more through as the productions got better and had depth, and as the songwriting became simpler and straight to the point. What we are dealing with when we speak about BLACKHORNED is no nonsense Black Metal, dark and cold riffing, a rasping vocal and straight to the point drumming. The atmosphere is black and gripping, driven forth by some, at most, aggressive thrashing riffing, and at other times pure slow darkness. The songwriting is intelligent with hooks the right places and some great pace changes. The pieces of synth used on this recording is working really well, and adds to the atmosphere and darkness. This isn’t music speaking to the deeper emotions or music that tries to revolutionize anything. This is good old school Black Metal with soul, passion and a nice energetic drive. A simple feast to satisfy old timers as myself, I know what I’ll get and I know I’ll get something that I like, and sometimes that is just what the soul and mind need. Enter the dark season at: www.blackhorned.webbyen.dk, www.undercover-records.de