“God Seed” is a track off Gorgoroth’s 2006 “Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloria” album. God Seed the band derive in part from Gorgoroth, comprising Gaahl and King ov Hell and other band members having associations with Trelldom, Grimfist and Dimmu Borgir. God Seed’s recorded output amounts to a live cd of their performance at Wacken 2008, a single and now this album. From the outset let me say that “I Begin” is recognisably the work of the ex Gorgoroth members.

A word that goes with the accompanying description of this work is “warm”. I did not detect any warmth and wouldn’t expect to, unless “intense” and “atmospheric” have become synonyms for “warm”. I do endorse the description I read of the “pure audio holocaust”. So from the outset we hear typically all-embracing stormy black metal. To go with the belligerence, Gaahl’s vocals have the usual authority and dispassionate frostiness. There’s a complete war going on but one difference from the norm is the use of keyboards which add a quirky touch to the grim and frosty violence. I wasn’t sure about these keyboards. A bit 70s in style, I wasn’t sure if they were operating in the same spirit as the preaching of evil and the rest of it. “This from the Past” adopts the classic technique of slowing down to enhance and prolong the malevolence. “Alt Liv”, which follows it, is pungent and sinister and again calls upon well-tried techniques with the addition of wavy electronic lines. The whole gamut of black metal methods is adopted as if this is a text book to demonstrate them. “From the Running of Blood” starts like a voice above a shipwreck, then imperious drumming creates a majestic feel before the track cranks up amid customary chaos.

My reservations with this album go beyond whether I’d heard this style of delivery before. Some parts of “I Begin” are really good, but others, such as the chanted chorus of “Hinstu Dagar” after a fiery but controlled build-up, don’t have great presence. The fire and energy, which God Seed share with bands like Rudra and the Polish giants, are there on “Aldrande Tre”, and a ferocious scenario emerges, but as Gaahl growls ominously, we also get the return of that strange keyboard whine. The keyboards work better on “Lit”. This time they sound extra-terrestrial rather than heritage, and enhance an imposing and uplifting inter section. For once God Seed break out of the trap, as to this point the creepy vocals behind the malevolently steady vocals have been part of the template scenario. So it is with “The Wound”, a war-like track but one which makes pedestrian progress. The deathly screams are enhanced by the keyboards. Roars step up the black metal ambiance but it’s all staid and formulaic. Other than the section at the end of “Lit”, only the last track “Bloodline” has something different to offer. Breathing can be heard to the background sound of waves in what seems to be laboratory conditions. With a distorted voice, the track is scary.

In the field of metal, and productions by Gaahl and King, there’s nothing new about “I Begin”. At least what we do get is something that we might expect: utter darkness and pure evil.

(5.5/10 Andrew Doherty)

www.facebook.com/godseedofficial