French satanists Seth have rarely crossed my path before, their 2004 album Era:Decay being an example of modernised, industrial-enhanced black metal that never managed to find enough ears, despite it being more than worthy and a possible future archive candidate. Looking back even further, however, to 1998, the band released their debut album, and there's nothing modernised about it. Season Of Mist have done the kvlt world a favour with their re-release of this (possibly to drum up support for the band in light of potential new activity) as it's a delicious slice of traditional, keyboard-heavy black metal that packs quite the atmospheric whallop and even manages to get a few tricks of its own in. Something like old Emperor and Abigor in ruthless aggression tempered by a classiness in the usage of keyboards, Seth are not artsy but fully and wholly traditional, having a good grasp of how keyboards can be used in black metal perfectly alongside guitars and drums.

Opening eight-minute stormer La Quintessence Du Mal especially works them to their finest, providing an epic cavalry charge that launches the album well, seizing your attention and keeping it for the full tracklength. The following two-part Hymne Au Vampire following up nicely by emphasising the melodic aspects to the sound, some tasty drum changes showing the band can do more than merely blast, although the second part proves that they can do this wonderfully too. Le Circle De La Renaissance, meanwhile, is a little more vicious and speedy, pausing for a rather pretty keyboard and acoustic guitar interlude before renewing the assault. It's hard to escape the fact that there's not a great deal of variation at play, and those new to the style or without an especial enjoyment of it may find Les Blessures De L'Ame tedious. Yet for fans, this is an excellent example of traditional black metal, occult and full of the spooky castle-atmosphere that the best can provide.