Genre: Black metal
Origin: Poland
Released: 2009
Website:
Label: Pagan Records
Uploaded: 16.04.09

When I first read the name of the band I giggled since, with just a minor tweak, Strandhogg could be translated to �beach stabbed� in Swedish. Which doesn�t make sense and has absolutely nothing to do with the review per se, it just made me laugh. But nevertheless the act�s debut album is certainly no laughing matter. This is one of the most ferocious, unrelenting black metal albums I�ve heard in years. They manage to take the typical old school Norwegian style � la Gorgoroth, 1349 and the likes, the Swedish agenda � la Dark Funeral and Marduk, spiced it with the typical French mad ferocity � la Antaeus and Arkhon Infaustus and then put their own Polish spin on it all. And the end result is intense, technical and unorthodox black metal.
The guitar lines are slick, perfectly coherent with the frenetic drumming. You�ll get ultra-killer blasting as well as some harsh, grim slower sections (which will still be carrying much of the ferocity due to the riffing). The song structure can at times play tricks with your mind, as the same track can twist and turn in several different directions, while still remaining brutal and raw-as-hell. On top of this you have the frantic vocals, as he spews forth the satanic lyrics with immense devotion and intensity, and in many styles. But you�ll just as well hear the pummeling of the bass, as they really let the one of the most underappreciated metal instruments take its rightful place at times.
It is absolutely shredding, it is a powerful and sounds extremely �evil�, in lack of a better word to describe it. The sound is good and the atmosphere is great. Plain and simply an unrelenting black metal assault that every fan of the genre should look up.

Tracklist:
01. Prophecy of world funeral
02. Strandhogg (canonized contempt)
03. Deathworshippers (ritualistic plague)
04. Devotion to blood and lust
05. Coronation of the new God
06. Pure annihilation
07. Profanated blasphemy
08. Mortuus evangelium