De totem

Lugubrum have been a big name for quite some time in the underground black metal scene. It’s their bizarre character that probably made them so succesful. Their music is best described as alcohol-fueled black metal with a subtle rustic touch.

On this disc Lugubrum shines once again. A lovely rotten, filthy, dirty record like only they can bring forth. A raw production lets the heavily distorted guitars and bass show to their full advantage. After a while it gets a bit annoying, since you seemingly hear more feedback than riffs, but this is only a minor flaw.
Most songs are very repetitive and monotonous, like true black metal is supposed to be. However, Lugubrum does bring quite a bit of variation on this record; by changing between slow and fast songs, by giving slow songs fast choruses or breakdowns (of which the titletrack is a fine example), and vice versa.
Barditus is in my opinion one of the best vocalists black metal has to offer. His squeeling and groaning sets your teeth on the edge and sounds quite down-to-earth with the little bit of reverberation used on his voice. “Ratteknaeghen” and “Midgets of Evil” are examples of songs where his shrill screams are worth noticing.
My opinion differs a bit about the instrumental part. Although the guitar is played adequatly by Midgaars and the riffs (about 4 or 5 different ones per song) are quite good most of the time, the drums on the other hand sound rather weak. I enjoyed Barditus’ drumming on Gedachte & Geheugen more than Svein’s work on this album. The double bass is hardly audible and there is just too much percussion going on. But since Lugubrum’s main attraction lies with it’s awesome riffing, this does not annoy too much.