Naglar’s latest album Sheol has been receiving favorable and sometimes outstanding reviews from distinguished metal journalists all over. Many are claiming this is one of the top ten albums of 2003. Well, I am definitely not distinguished and this album is horrendous. Every single track runs together to provide a nice and bland experience. Jens Ryden and Kristoffer Olivius, lead vocals and bass/backing vocal respectively, provide the typical raspy delivery you’ve come to expect from black metal along with some screams and a few deep growls. The guitar playing is fast and melodic with a thrashy feel yet extremely uninspiring but it really does not matter because there is nothing memorable. A few standard solos are tossed in but they’re pointless and lead nowhere. Naglfar does add some keyboard touches for variety and to create a symphonic quality in a couple of the songs but you can’t polish a slimy turd like this one.

Besides the overall banality of Sheol, the production is what really made me want to shove knives in my ears. The vocals and guitars overpower the rhythm section. Too fucking polished is what also comes to mind when I listen to this album. The production is artificial and lacks any sort of atmosphere I look for in black metal. I like my black metal raw, distorted as hell, and downright nasty. I want it to scare me, to make me piss my pants because it’s so damn good. Naglfar accomplishes none of this. The artwork does not aid the white hot pile of shit that is Sheol either. The band’s hilarious photographs in the liner notes are the only redeeming part of the pain I had to endure while listening to this album. A couple of them are really angry boys. So angry, their faces are scrunched up like they just ate something that’s wreaking havoc on their digestive world or they’re pissed because someone hid their gauntlets. I was going to crack a joke about how homoerotic they look but that would be insulting to the entire homosexual population of the world. The only thing I have left to do is decide whether this is going to become a coaster or a gift to my shitty microwave.

Written By: GruntCunter