Enthroned

Belgium’s Enthroned continue the black metal tradition of obscuring themselves in Latin and sampling Gregorian monk chants, leaving the only real surprise to the production, which is slick, polished and seemingly high budget? Opting out of the raw deal is unfortunately as counterintuitive as this clan get, everything else being heirlooms borrowed from your Emperors and Burzums of past. The material is certainly competent, with plenty of the blast beats, mournful minor chords and general misanthropy that hallmark the black metal realm. But with the genre continuing to explode into ever-distinctive tangents, why settle? Fans of the fuzzy lo-fi stuff will find Enthroned’s professionalism especially off-putting, despite the band’s sincere allegiance to Satan. Anyone with a bottomless appetite for produced and proficient black metal, however, should dig right in. After all, Tetra Karcist is consistent and reliable, kind of like all-purpose flour.