Which is undeniable pagan metal, or perhaps viking metal if you please. Personally it is definitely not my style, but as I checked out some of their tracks they caught my interest. Fourteen years of playing definitely shows on this record! Nice and tight atmospheric songs with a lot of variation, with the occasional brutal outbursts.

 

The thing I really like about this record are the parts that really sound like cinema-music. It really sounds like music fit for movies about medieval battlefields, and fleets of Viking ships approaching the British coasts on their way to plunder. This album isn’t called Of Myths And Legends for no reason! In my opinion the man behind the keyboard is mostly responsible for this, creating a far ranging atmosphere in the songs.  Black Messiah also manages to give the brutal side of their music enough room to breathe, in a blasting black metal form. The vocals really represent this aspect as well, consisting of harsh screams.

The thing they do really well, is alternate the heavy blasting parts with the atmospheric parts. And occasionally they surprise you with a real folk metal part, I even think I heard some Tiroler influences in the track ‘Father Of War' ! But that could be just my lack of expertise in this genre.

 

To be honest, some viking stuff can occasionally be very entertaining. When it pushes too much towards folk I tend to find it ridiculous before starting to irritate myself. But bands like this and for instance Tyr every now and then doesn’t hurt me at all! All you pagans, Vikings, folk fanatics and anti-Christian black metal warlords, beware of the Black Messiah!!!