Circadian Rhythm

Let me start by saying this is my favorite album of 2007 (so far).

Thurisaz is hard to put into a genre. The easiest thing to say is melodic black/death metal, I guess. That's why this band is so great. They put all their influences in the correct places. The songs may start out sounding like black metal, but at the end of the song there is so much that has happened, you're almost forced to listen to it again. I wouldn't call this "complicated" music, but there are so many different styles on here that it's hard to digest at once.

The emotions displayed on this album are very sad and melancholic, and they are expressed through sheer brutality or slow, atmospheric sections. Thurisaz are apparently the masters of emotion. Each song has it's own thing that makes you want to listen again.

The musicianship is top notch. Again, this music isn't as complicated as some of the other stuff out there, but they do know how to play their instruments. The drumming is fantastic. The guitars are played and toned just right so they show some strong emotion. The keyboards add that orchestral touch to the music, which makes it feel like "battle" music almost, to me anyway. The bass locks in with the bass drum and creates the brutal atmosphere, or the slow and melancholic one. Everything on here is nearly perfect. There are two vocalists. One, is a more black metal-esque vocalist, and the other has clean vocals and deeper, almost death metal vocals. They aren't the first band to do this, but it sounds very unique and works well with the vastly changing styles shown on this release.

Nearly everything on here is perfect. I can't give it 100, because I know these guys have more to give. Their next album will be better than this one, I think. They're close, but I don't think they've shown us their absolute potential. Though, if this is their potential, I'm extremely satisfied.

And another thing. These guys are awesome live. I saw them at their first US performance ever and that's what got me into them. I hadn't heard of them otherwise. So if you're reading this review, you've already heard of Thurisaz. Now it's time to get this album.