If a band is able to survive more than 20 years in a genre like Black Metal and publish eight full-lengths, then one should pay some respect to said band.
If that band still sounds kinda fresh after more than 20 years, one might be impressed. Crest of Darkness is the first, not so much the second. They should be respected for being around for so long, definitely; however, their sound is a bit blurred to me, because it seems as if the trio wants to much.
But first things first. Three years after their last full-length the guys from Norway are back with their eighth album (not counting some EPs) with The God Of Flesh released via My Kingdom Music. The trio is around since the 90s and has produced quite a discography since then. The lineup has been through some changes but for a few years now, Ingar Amlien has found a solid foundation for his vision of blackened extreme metal with a twist.
The sound oscillates between black metal, a bit death rock, some field recordings and vocal samples (e.g. of a sobbing woman) and some Gothic keys. By reading this, you get quite a good notion of where C.O.D. are heading with their sound and The God of Flesh which is also the opening title track. The album is full of furious, raging, aggressive metal attacks, yet most of the tracks do not offer much glue to keep sticking. The best moments of this really well-produced record are those when they refrain from the usual black metal bits and incorporate elements into their sound which make it stand out from the lot of releases. The keys by guest musician Kristian Wentzel at the end of the title-track for example. Or the distorted shouts of Ingar in “Endless Night”, which also features some intriguing guitar work in the intro.
However, noticeable is the way everything flows on this record, there is not one single note on this record that sounds obsolete or misplaced, it all has a good way of blending together. On the other hand, this constant flow can also be criticized as nothing is totally different and unique, C.O.D. has no unique selling point – but they also don’t want to have one.
