Once again Darkness Shall Rise Productions rises to the occasion and have cranked out a reissue of a long out of print classic, this time in the form of THOU SHALT SUFFER’s compilation of material known as “Into The Woods Of Belial”. The last time this compilation was released was back in 2013 via Century Media and has since been a rare gem that collectors have been searching (and at times paid a hefty price to get their hands on). The band was formed ~ 1990, at the time being known as DARK DEVICE, then XERASIA, then as EMBRYONIC and then finally settling on THOU SHALT SUFFER. The core of the band was formed by Ildjarn, EMPEROR creators Ihsahn and Samoth, along with drummers Ronny Johnsen and Thorbjørn Akkerhaugen. Keep in mind the music here is pre – EMPEROR era, but you will pick up hints here and there of riffs that would later appear in EMPEROR songs. To date this is the closest we have seen of a semi-complete anthology of the band. This release by Darkness Shall Rise Productions consists of two CDs (or two cassettes or three vinyl records) and here is the breakdown: CD 1: “Into The Woods Of Belial” demo tape, “Open The Mysteries Of Your Creation” 7 EP and 1991 rehearsal. CD 2: 1991 rehearsal, 1991 EMBRYONIC rehearsal, 1990 EMBRYONIC demo and 1990 XERASIA rehearsal. The music itself is gritty crushing Death Metal with hints of Black Metal. It stylistically sounds like EMPEROR’s demo “Wrath Of The Tyrant” from 1992. The production is lo-fi but you can clearly make out most of the instruments, the drums do sound drowned out by the guttural vocals, keyboards and guitars. Lyrically you get your blackened style Death Metal concepts mixed with some elements of the occult. The songs vary in pace, from in your face fast paced to slowing things down to mid-tempo, where at times the keyboards stand out nicely. Overall, this is a great compilation covering the majority of the band’s history. It would have been nice to have included the band’s final album “Somnium” (even though at that point it was strictly Ihsahn being the sole member of the band and the album was mostly a symphonic album) just to capture the entire catalog in one release but who knows maybe down the road someone might release the anthology. It is a nice walk through memory lane to see what the guys from EMPEROR worked on before each taking their separate musical paths. Well worth listening to and even buying especially for the collection. For more info: www.facebook.com/darknessshallriseproductions