Band's List Black Metal Gorgoroth (NOR) Antichrist

Gorgoroth is spoken of as one of the premier Black Metal bands from the early-to-mid 1990’s, when Norway’s scene marched forth in blood and blasphemy. One constant of this era’s bands was a revolving-door aspect regarding membership. While this is not unusual for bands of any genre, Gorgoroth would have this part evidenced in at least two albums. “Antichrist” is the first of these transitional albums, as Hat was the vocalist for three of six songs, and Pest would provide vocals for the other three, though he is credited as a “guest” vocalist. This may be due to the intro track and fifth track being labeled as “instrumental”. Infernus handled all guitar and bass duties, and the drumming was performed by Satyricon drummer Frost******.
The production was, again, remarkably polished, and a bit thicker than the preceding debut. The mix was nicely balanced, and retained the cold, raw feel that is part of the genre without sounding like utter crap. This album succeeded in creating a dark atmosphere without over-doing it, as some bands of that time were prone to do.
The album leads off with a short bit of audio that seems to be the sound of some unknown, hellish thing lurching forward in its search for souls to consume, then launches into “Bergtrollets hevn” (The Revenge of the Mountain Troll ). Most of the album is rather mid-paced, save for the closer “Sorg” (Sorrow), which is a slow, yet pummeling composition.
Despite my misgivings about Hat’s vocals, they were fitting for his time in the band, and Pest was very much a worthy successor in this album, and moreso on the following album. He has more depth and range, though it’s not overly apparent in this recording. The drumming was also noteworthy in that it wasn’t always the usual constant blast-beat overload. Frost****** put in some unique work, particularly in the song “Possessed (By Satan)”. The guitar work was showing a classical music influence in many of the songs, which is one part of why I admire many bands in this genre.

Overall, a very satisfying album.