It's not the first time I come across one of my old faves from the mid ‘90s Swedish scene, luckily this band still shreds after so many years! From a cool number of bands that mixed melody with ferocity & intense rhythms only a few managed to survive, like Necrophobic for instance, while others (Unanimated, Miscreant, Ceremonial Oath) were buried by time (but not dust, speaking for me!) Naglfar still go on and reached their 4th album in a career counting more than 10 years of binding to the glorious sound of Dissection. I think only Dawn was a noticeable usurper to an empty throne, and with the latest material from J.Nodtveit & Co. being not what it used to, "Pariah" is expected to demand a place in the blackened hearts of those who follow this death/black inferno.

Without the founding member, vocalist Jens Ryden, also known for his personal project Dead Silent Slumber, but with a fine lava-spitter (the bassist who's also got tested at this role in Setherial) to replace him, everything seems set on the right (left?!?) place. No surprises, there has ever been highly qualitative moments in this band since I can remember, when their debut "Vittra" blew me away a decade ago. Wicked, hellish, great played are always the order of the (darkened) day in Naglfar. There's also a nasty surprise as bonus, a cover from the good old black metal legend Throne Of Ahaz! No wonder why, guitarist Marcus Norman has been a part of this legend too, among others. More words are needless. The ship made from the nails of the dead (the meaning of "naglfar" in Norse mythology) has sailed again.