When the MP3s for Satan Leads My Sword plopped in my e-mail inbox, I have to admit I wasn't expecting much special. Bedroom black metal bands are a dime-a-dozen these days, all Burzum riffs and teenage angst. So, it certainly came as a very pleasant surprise when I fired up opener (not counting intro War Through Centuries) Death Or Victory. Whereas most young black metal bands are content to go down the slower, more depressive route, Grim Landscape play raw yet melodic black metal in a manner reminiscent of a less minimalistic Transilvanian Hunger, or perhaps a little closer to the mark, Heaven In Flames. Yes, originality is a bit thin on the ground, but if the retro-thrash brigade can get away with lifting Slayer riffs wholesale, why can't a young black metal band engage in a little Judas Iscariot worship?

Not that it's a complete rip-off of the works of Ahkenaten, mind. The likes of It's Raining Napalm amongst others have a punkish swagger to them that recalls, say, Carpathian Forest, albeit with the same melodic riffage carried throughout the album. Towards the end of the album, things get ever so slightly more epic, the title track and L'Hertier stretching to around the 6-7 minute mark. Still, the band keep it concise and ear-to-the-ground, and coming in at 37 minutes this record comes and goes before it has a chance to outstay its' welcome. And in an age where many bands confuse making an overlong record with “value for money”, that's a very good thing indeed.

Indeed, there's a definite old-school quality to Satan Leads My Sword, despite the slightly slicker sounding production. It's the kind of vicious, nasty black metal that comes from a time before relentlessly Satanic lyrics were considered well, a bit naff. There's zero concession to synths or acoustic interludes, with the only break from the assault coming in the form of vaguely cheap-sounding samples (and for anyone who gives this album a listen, could you tell me where the speech at the start of L'Hertier is from? It's been driving me mental.). It's a short sharp shock of an album, and when black metal is going off into uncharted territory, it's nice to hear something like this every once in a while. A little too unadventurous it may be to achieve true greatness, but if you're not painting pentagrams on the walls by the end of Satan Leads My Sword, perhaps this whole black metal thing just isn't your bag.