For those of you unfamiliar with this group, it is basically a Necrophagia side project consisting of Anton Crowley (Phil Anselmo of Pantera) on guitars, drums and bass, vocalist Killjoy and someone referring to themselves as Opal Enthroned on keyboards. The band, realizing that to gain any sort of acceptance amongst the "black metal elite", they’d have to record something raw and unpolished, which is what they did with their new full length, Innocence From Hell. Unfortunately they forgot to take into account that the bands who have gained respect through a raw sound, also play great music, in the case of Viking Crown, their ‘raw, primal, unpolished’ sound basically just means they are about as musically talented as 14 year olds in their parents’ garage flailing around on their first ever practice session. There is a reason why Phil Anselmo does not play drums, bass or guitars for Pantera, because it’s obvious that he has absolutely no talent whatsoever. If he can’t even be good enough to play an instrument in Pantera, well, I think that says enough right there. The vocals of Killjoy are just ridiculously hilarious. He lets out these really annoying high pitched screeches like he’s being sodomized by a water buffalo, but trying to sound evil. If you’d ever met the man, you’d know that he’s only about three apples high, even I, at 5′8" dwarf over him, so just hearing him grunt and squeal as he does on this release makes me laugh hysterically, considering Killjoy is about as evil and intimidating as a Smurf after sucking on a balloon filled with helium. The difference between Viking Crown and "true" unpolished and raw black metal, is that "true" black metallers actually know how to play their instruments, but just cannot afford to record some place where they can get decent production. With all of the money Phil has made, you’d figure he could at least pay to get some lessons if not get better production for this monstrosity. I think the only reason they made the album so raw was as an attempt to cover up just how bad of a musician he is. It’s not even worth buying this CD for a laugh, it’s just really really pathetic, as is anyone who likes this band. Written By: Teufel