You know the stories how bands start out playing a mix of Death / Black Metal and then as they get better on their instruments they want to explore weirder stylistical corners and branch out. At that point they start to refer to themselves as something like Avantgarde Post Black Metal or just Extreme Metal or whatever. Some names? Take cue from ARCTURUS, DHM, OPETH and the likes. Poland’s IBLIS walk the similar path and to be very honest apart from their originality there’s nothing much else to rave about. Apparently the guys know how to handle their instruments and there are enough twists and turns to keep the listener engaged throughout 32 minutes of this freaky, crazy monster if you like blastbeats accompanied by quirky rhythms one minute and spaced out, HAWKWIND-ish Psychedelic Rock the next. Honestly, I thought I was gonna hate it more than I actually did, but this stuff can be appreaciated more on the intellectual level and since I want to get stupid and have a good headbanging time with my Metal, IBLIS just doesn’t cut it for me. Listening to their vocalist I find myself somehow thinking of KING DIAMOND but without the wide range, I mean it’s more the manner of singing that reminds me of the King, not the actual voice. Even if I might not be brimming with excitment about "Menthell", I don’t want to dismiss and trash this album like I would in my younger days, mostly because even for all its ‘avant-gardism’ they don’t come across as too pretentious and seem to be honestly into exploring and mixing Black Metal, Rock and Psychedelia, so give it a try, you might even like it more than I did. Also check out their label’s site, they’ve got lots of cool stuff for free downloads, really worth exploring! www.facebook.com/pages/iblis/499902310130, www.deathtomusic.com