All aboard the Swedish melodic black metal express! Toot! Toot! Here we have Setherial’s Death Triumphant, a familiar breed of well-produced black metal that has been emerging from Scandinavia for the last decade. And it’s a solid, though repeated, ride.

The breed of black metal on Death Triumphant is one of similar melodic nature as Naglfar, Dissection, a bit of Old Man’s Child, and even hints of death/black metallers Necrophobic. The album starts out with yawn-inducing tepidness on the first two completely disposable tracks, but the real meat of the album kicks in with the third track "With Veins Wide Open" (which I seriously hope is a jab at pseudo-Christian rockers Creed). Relying on Naglfar-esque hooks and drumming, Setherial go for the throat with standard melody and minimal keyboard usage that never overstays its welcome. The Dissection-like riffs are to be expected, but they’re used well and don’t get overly stale. If you’ve heard Setherial before, there isn’t anything here to be surprised by.

Death Triumphant is a solid album, but nothing new or exemplary. There are plenty of standard gems on here (especially with "Devilry, Wickedness, and Scorn"), though I’ll personally stick with the latest Necrophobic album.

Written By: Necro-tron