REVIEWS:

In the world of grim black metal, there are very few that can stand above the pack and create something ingenuitive, grim, and enjoyable all at the same time, especially if the band isn’t from Norway (Dark Fortress is from Germany). Having the odds stacked against them in my eyes (and ears), Dark Fortress has persevered with Profane Genocidal Creations. Despite having to deal with numerous line-up changes since their full formation in 1997, Dark Fortress has created a memorable release for the morbid world of black metal. Musically this can be described as symphonic and melodic. The keyboards are ambient and very stand-outish at times. The intro track reminds me almost of older Mortiis material, with the very battle/cosmic sound to them. Paymon does a great job keeping up this ambience throughout the entire album and helps give it a bit of an epic undertone. Guitar-wise this reminds me a lot of Dissection and early Satyricon. Asvargr and Santura are able to fluidly blend melodies with black metal fury, and the occasional slice of death metal creates something very enjoyable for any pagan ear. The melding of the acoustic/clean guitar work also favors and compliments the whole sound nicely. One thing I couldn’t believe was I could actually hear Draug’s bass playing quite often, and he’s a solid bassist at that. All too often in the world of grim black metal the bass is damn near non-existent. Behind the kit, Seraph rifles off powerful beats whether they be a blast attack or something slower during the melodic sections. Lastly, on vokills is Azathoth who combines the grim gravel ridden black metal vokills with some noteworthy clean vokills and flowing spoken word. The only thing that I went back and forth with musically was the female vokills, although they don’t affect the overall album experience too much because they don’t appear very often. They first make their debut in the song “Passage to Existence”. At times they’re good and at other times they’re not. When the straight singing is taking place I can’t say I enjoy the vokills all too much, but the operatic and spoken word passages exemplify the music perfectly. The production on this is raw, but in the good sense. This is the type of black metal production that is unpolished, but never too unpolished for its own good. It was recorded in Norway at the Grieghallen Studio (Emperor, Burzum). During some palm-muting and riffing the guitars can sound a little too distorted, but during the melodies and clean passages they sound fantastic. The bass is audible, the vokills are fluid, and the drums are commanding but never over-powering (the blast beats in particular sound really crisp). It’s not too often I come across a “true” slab of black metal I enjoy this much. For those of you who occasionally like to dabble in the grimness of black metal, I recommend you check these guys out, especially if you dig Dissection. For those die-hard black metalers out there, this one is a no-brainer; your collection is not complete without Profane Genocidal Creations. The Dark Fortress continues to stand tall, encompassing the masses in its shadow.
Patrick - RedStream.org