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Troll: Neo-Satanic Supremacy Symphonic Black Metal Napalm Records January 29th, 2009
- "Alt For Satan" (NapalmRecords.com) Originally posted on December 4th, 2009 | ||
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Review
After a pretty big abscence, the band Troll have returned with their latest effort, Neo-Satanic Supremacy. In their career, the band transformed from a Symphonic Black Metal act into a more Industrialized one, and with this new release, we find Troll going back to their roots with the ambient Black Metal sound that was found on their debut full length release, Drep De Kristne. While the band's Industrial material was good, it just didn't quite stack up to the haunting auras that album contained, leaving their fans wanting more. Now, well over ten years since it's release, we find the band at their full glory, back where it all started, and making the start of 2010 a very grim one, in a good way of course... Neo-Satanic Supremacy acts more as a Symphonic Black Metal album then anything, really, having a musical feel that fans of Emperor will gladly eat up. It is also great to see that Troll has not succumb to the new third wave Black Metal approach, and the album has a more structured feel to it outside of just insanely blast beats from start to finish. The music on this release has a very eerie, haunting feeling to it, mostly brought on by the accompanying keyboards that go on in the background to enhance the mood of the release, as well as helping out with some of the slower tracks like "Mrkets Skoger", especially with the old gothic ballroom-esque keyboard segment that appears near the end of that track, or even the haunting keyboards found at the start and throughout the song "Hvor Tken Ligger S Trist Og Gr", which is easily the best track on the entire release. This makes these tracks stand out more then the actual heavier, faster songs. While the slower tracks on here are phenomenal, and really stand out as the gems of the release, some of the faster ones, as stated, will send you into a fury, even though they seem to be much shorter and simpler. "Burn The Witch" is a great example of how good the heavy tracks on here are, and it even feels a little fun in a vulgar way. "Neo-Satanic Supremacy" is definitely fast enough to earn being the album's title, and lives up to that fact well through from blistering start to end, being a much simpler song in structure compared to some of the others on the release. The only real downfall to this release would be the track "Smertens Rike" which really isn't all that impressive, feeling as if you had heard it already on the album and was only put there as a filler track with some shining moments with the drumming and the unbelievable guitar solo, with "Age Of Satan" trying to make up for the inclusion of that track. Troll are back and for many fans, it's a pretty big one, especially since they took a bold move as to going all the way back to a sound they had back in 1996. Then again, it's not too far off in the band's timeline considering the hiatus they were on after their third release. Either way, Neo-Satanic Supremacy is a very welcome return to form for the band that any non-diehard-Christian fan of metal will embrace with open arms. It's blasphemous, it's haunting, it's a solid assurance that the band has not lost their way after all these years. If you never heard of this act before, then it's time to check out Troll, especially since bassist Volde made it clear that this is no longer just a project, but a full fledged band.
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