I've re-recorded an old composition (2004), curious for some opinions on every aspect (vocals, song, mix, ...).

http://www.soundcloud.com/exoow/mhd

Thanks

Not bad, Not bad at all.

Thanks, more (constructive) criticism or comments welcome.

I like the structure of the song, it had a clear verse and chorus in parts but it wasn't the generic verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus-chorus structure that's so overplayed nowadays. Had some nice changes of pace where needed, and it wasn't just your usual hyperspeed -ahem- "norsecore" (I don't consider it to be an actual genre), which was nice to hear. The drums were pretty interesting and there were some nice subtleties, but I encourage you to branch out with it even more because usual black metal drumming is quite generic and can get boring if it's just the same beats all the time. Not saying you have to be like Brann Dailor of Mastodon, but try experimenting a bit more, switching between different types of fast beats rather than your usual blast beats (Drudkh would be a good band to look at for that, their drummer Vlad does a great job at keeping things interesting). The vocals fit very well but should be mixed slightly louder; they actually reminded me a bit of Nocturno Culto's voice on A Blaze In The Northern Sky, I can imagine you screaming "Kathaaria was built-world without end" and it wouldn't sound much different! The main improvements need to be made in the guitar work I think, as they had some good riffs but most didn't really stand out as much in my opinion, again branching out with them a bit would really help spice up certain parts (you don't necessarily have to create entirely new riffs, just try doing some modifications of the ones you have; as a fellow guitar player and songwriter myself I know how frustrating it can be when your bandmates don't like your riffs and you're forced to create something completely new again). Try experimenting with some more layered rhythm and lead work, and try to experiment with what you do with your leads - high end tremolo riffs can be great especially when done well, but even they will start to sound overplayed if it's all you work with.

All in all though, good work! It's more interesting and there's more to it than other songs people have showed me, and with a few tweaks here and there it could really shine!

Songwriting I enjoyed, I wouldn't change anything there. it was interesting and kept a good atmosphere
playing is spot on and good.
vocals sounded good I might add a tad of reverb to them but not much
production sounds pretty great but I would either turn down the drums cause they are a tad loud in the mix overwhelming the mix totally, mainly the snare and cymbals. the kicks are at the right vol and the toms are too or you can turn the guitars up some more to balance it.

Pretty well done black metal imo. I dig the parts with the change in tempo (around 2:30-3:00 and 3:30-4:30); as someone who loves unorthodox song structures, there were enough changes in the music keep me interested.

On the other hand, some of the riffs don't sound quite as dissonant and "evil" as I would like to hear them, but that's mostly just my personal preference. And something I should have probably mentioned at the beginning: the song did start off a little slow with the typical black metal riff & chorus, but as you can see I nearly forgot about it once all the interesting stuff took over, so it's not that important.

Regardless, the atmosphere, the vocals, and everything else sound great! And another +1 for keeping it trv black metal.
Hopefully this silly, short review helps.

Wow, those were some informative comments, I tip my hat to you gentlemen.
I'm especially relieved that the production/mix is generally approved of. (I was already aware that at least the ride is too loud.)

I stuck to one guitar (hence the lack of melodic layering) because I was aiming for older Darkthrone-ish material.
(I agree with Flippityfloop but it would defeat the purpose of this specific project.)

Now I need a good harsh winter to inspire me with follow-up material.

In the meantime, this song was part of a release:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=96978

It has also been remixed.