Azrael - Act III: Self and Act IV: Goat

You don't see many double albums these days. With the decline of vinyl and the advent of CDs that hold over 70 minutes of music they've become few and far between. You see a few double live CDs and CDs with a bonus disc, but this is a true double CD set. As you can probably guess from the titles, these are Azrael's third and fourth releases.

Act III: Self and Act IV: Goat remind me of anti new age albums. You know how new age albums have mellow soundscapes that make you feel peaceful and relaxed? These albums have lengthy instrumental passages that can be mellow at times, but are anything but relaxing. In fact, these soundscapes are dark with a feeling of impending doom. And that darkness smacks you right in the face when the guitars crank up and Lord Samaiza's unholy vocals grab you around the throat.

The songs on these albums are very creative and sound improvisational at times. In addition to the bleak black metal, Azrael throws in elements of progressive, folk, psychedlia and even a hint of jazz. It's a wide ranging, eclectic and ominous sounding double CD set that black metal fans can sink their teeth into.