French Black Metal, as is true of the rest of the world now, has two primary styles. First there’s the insufferably boring “depressive” genre, where the focus is on “mournful,” and “suicidal” feelings and stark, bleak, dreary landscapes borrowed entirely from BURZUM. The bands which comprised the Black Legions (LLN) like MUTIILATION are routinely cited as major influences in this tedious variation of the genre. Thankfully, that’s not what DARK MANAGARM is about. They play the second kind of Black Metal that’s out today: fast, ripping, sonic, torment! Bands like the ANTAEUS come to mind, although DARK MANAGARM is not quite as insane as their countrymen. Songs like ‘War God Execration’ (sounds like a Ross Bay kind of title) and ‘Underworld Glorification’ blaze away with blast beats and melodies that one may expect on a Black Metal album. I wouldn’t say any of this is not worth listening to but it’s unfortunately about as typical of this subgenre as XASTHUR is of depressive style. Things slow down considerably in ‘Plague’ before picking right back up again. This song is fast as hell but the verses and singing style remind me of Legion era MARDUK more than anything else; so still within the realm of fast but a little boring Black Metal. This album could have easily been condensed into an EP. It’s difficult to tell one song apart from another. Although there are a lot of good moments on this album, they’re just that: moments. There’s other Black Metal out there, though much of it is probably far worse than this. Check this out if you have some time. http://darkmanagarm.free.fr, www.ibdclabel666.bigcartel.com