The self chosen exile – original words from their record company – can be a very lonely place and after 11 years the Australian band NAZXUL has risen like a phoenix out of their own ashes. The band’s debut “Totem”, released in 1995, had been one of the first Black Metal monuments from Down Under (together with the DESTROYER 666 “Unchain The Wolves” album) and their new and second release “Iconoclast” is based on the presented music and sounds like a ghost from the past. The band is playing very keyboard orientated Black Metal with strong parallels to the black wizards of this style – EMPEROR. The music is well performed (even if some variety is missing) and the album offers nearly an hour of solid Black Metal – with an extreme strong title track – but the sound is giving me more than just headaches. For this style a transparent sound is mandatory but “Iconoclast” is offering everything else than that and it’s quite difficult to identify the different layers of drums, keys and guitars. This releases can’t alter the fact that this style is worn out like a prostitute after 15 years of service at the battlefront. “Iconoclast” is a good album and after the last disappointing releases from Australia (PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS) for sure a highlight within the Australian scene. But if this is sufficient to survive the cold northern winters is in some way questionable. www.eisenton.de, www.myspace.com/nazxul