Beautiful and Damned

In a matter of less than a year, Slaegt have shifted their style from a very primitive second wave black metal into this. And what is this?

First of all, the lyrics are in English, which aren't broken like the English lyrics of other black metal bands that move away from their home language- and are actually pretty impressive. The second, and the most notable too, is the change in style of their music. It is a very untypical kind of black/thrash, which the band calls "black heavy metal" or just "Slaegt metal"- with the second term more fitting to the music.

The songs themselves have a more professional and polished sound than the songs in their debut LP. The riffs aren't the unoriginal tremolo riffs anymore, but a more galloping type of thrash riffs with some occasional black metal quasi-tremolo riffs (which are not that bad actually) and have a more heavy feeling to them. They are accompanied by an audible bass (this time) and some very good drumming which is now more reminiscent of thrash and traditional heavy metal than BM. There are three songs that are featured in the EP- all of them having a very epic feeling and show the development in the band's musicianship. The production in this release isn't the muddy wannabe-second-wave production that was featured in their debut, but grim and crystal-clear- which accentuates the music and amplifies its overall atmosphere.

The atmosphere is described in the EP's title: Beautiful and Damned. It has a more destructive feeling than its proceeder, but is more progressive, melancholic and darker- a thing always welcome in music of this kind. A great example for this is the side B of the EP: it has a haunting acoustic instrumental, and then a straightforward dark black/thrash mayhem. Very recommended.