SLAEGT (Dk) – Beautiful and Damned TAPE

Gone is the blown-out black metal grimness of SLÆGT Mk I; here, with the lineup now doubled in size and live rituals more frequent, a sort of blackened epic metal emerges. Songs are no longer minimalist exercises in lurking menace; instead, the full furl of classic heavy metal’s narrative powers are played out across the three main epics of Beautiful and Damned, buttressed by an indeed beautiful acoustic instrumental. Comparisons can be drawn to comrades Reverie, who now share members with SLÆGT, but more than mere on-the-surface stylistic similarities, it can be argued that these impossibly energetic youths are drawing from an eternal wellspring of inspiration, and SLÆGT, for their part, are keeping a still-fertile toehold in black metal.