It’s just a few months ago that I got hold of the second demo of Saxonias NOTORIUS. “Prophets Of False” received a pretty enthusiastic review by yours truly, leaving me with a thrill of anticipation for the first album on Godeater Records. And now it’s here. “Rage And Fail” is the title of the EP (sadly not a full length album). And it picks up, where the demo recordings left off. The hateful vocals in combination with the pretty raw and cold production create an atmosphere most Black Metal wish to have. Yet the pretty simple and straight songwriting gets a little more diversified, the Post Rock moments that already showed up on “Prophets Of False” blaze their trail a little more, but never sound put on. Instead, these elements enrich the sound of NOTORIUS perfectly and are congenial to the simple and catchy melody lines. These improved qualities are already hearable in the opening ‘Act I (A Lion Is Born)’ and fully unfold in the fantastic ‘Act II (Katharsis)’. Here the German vocals with lyrical hints at the German National anthem and Schiller’s ‘Ode An Die Freude’ (‘Ode To Joy’) are very fascinating and a perfect partner to the cathartic melodies. ‘Act III (Der Tod Ist Unser)’ picks up the atmosphere of the preceding highlight, darkening it a little more. And the acts IV and V, ‘Red Horse’ and ‘White Theme’ are of the same astonishing quality, the latter being a little more on the doomy and sometimes even a little dissonant side. With “Rage And Fail”, NOTORIUS claimed the throne of contemporary Black Metal. And I still wait for a full album, now my appetite is whetted more and more. So, check this EP out and go to www.facebook.com/notorius666 or http://notorius.bandcamp.com for the band. And visit the label at www.facebook.com/godeaterrec