For Thine Is the Kingdom of the Flesh

Second album by this one-man band from Australia who is obviously really into mid-period Emperor and Satyricon, with the high-speed drum work, the propulsive riffs, and the general atmosphere of chaos and darkness. The production on this is really outstanding, with a lot of layers, a guitar sound that bites like a wolf, and enough clarity to keep this from devolving into mush while still maintaining impressive levels of heaviness. I detect some similarities to Astriaal—if anyone remembers that criminally underrated Aussie band—in the way the compositions will use a single melodic lick and then mutate it as the rhythms cycle through drastically different modes, bringing new feel to the same riff as the background shifts around it. I guess that's a way of saying I find the songwriting on here really sharp and well thought-out. This is an album that you should not skip.