Under The Sign Of Hell

If you are looking for a classic black metal album, you have found one of them. One recommendation I would make is to get the original production version. They remade a version of this album in 2011 where the production is cleaner but I think it takes away from the sound it was intentionally supposed to have. As others have mentioned, the first song on the album with the original production has this really obnoxious snare drum but that is what I love about it. The vocals are also more "screechy" on the original which I like better as well. If it was any other type of metal I would hate the production but with black metal, bad production was what most of the artists went for in the 90's that created this type of music.

Great band

Classic Black Metal from one of Norway's greatest bands.

This album marks the introduction of Gaahl to Gorgoroth, and with it their days of notoriety. The album is split between the outgoing vocalist (Pest?) and the new and as a result has that hodge-podge transition sort of sound. I think this is the album (my opinion),that they started to become more produced and perhaps more melodic. Take that with a grain of salt, this isn't Cradle of Filth. As I am a fan of their newer stuff for creativity reasons (the older is classic low fidelity dark Black Metal), this marks the start of my favored style. Perhaps a good starting place, though I would recommend Destroyer or Incipit Satan first, unless you're a purist, then perhaps start with Pentagram or Antichrist. Good album the first track (Revelation of Doom is the only real standout). Good album for Gorgoroth, not their best, but slays the weaker bands.

For the 20 years Ive listened to Black Metal, there are a few classic bands/albums I've either never heard or were just lost on me. Satyricon, Burzum, Marduk, Immortal, Darkthrone never did as much for me as Mayhem, Dimmu, Emperor, Enslaved or Nokturnal Mortum. Gorgoroth, I always regarded from afar as a Norwegian Marduk, a brutal ultra satanic blast beat heavy band with screeching vocals. The images of their bloodstained leather-nailed visages, the infamous criminal behavior & media posturing did nothing for me.Gorgoroth surprised me. In my recent return to the Norwegian 2nd Wave, I've finally enjoyed Hades' Again Shall Be and finally "got" Satyricon's Rebel Extravaganza (5 star review to follow), dabbled in Darkthrone (still don't care for) but for a band as storied and recognizable to have eluded my enjoyment this long, reassures me I'm not "that old".After some dabbling was early as Pentagram & as late as Ad Majora, I'm starting my in depth Gorgoroth listening with 1997's Under The Sign Of Hell, largely due to the presence of Grim on drums. I love the first 3 Borknagar albums (first 5 really) & was interested to what little more of his imitable style was recorded. My biggest surprise was how catchy and melodic Gorgoroth can be amidst their harsh delivery. The vocals are far more varied than I would have expected as well, some Norse-timbred clean vocals will show up mid-album. The noise/ambient sections break up the monotony, bringing to mind similar elements present on Ulver's Nattens Madirgal although the 5th track, backwards distorted clean & growled vocals grates some at best, silly at worst. The album is best listened to in one sitting. The tracks are lively and short enough you're down record before you even think of reorienting yourself.Somewhere between the thuggishly basic Transylvanian Hunger & the-joke-is-on-you-the-listener genius of Nattens Madrigal is Under The Sign of Hell. All have intentionally harsh productions that serve as some sort of "Fifth Beatle" to these albums character, as important as the instrumentation itself. Here the opening song has a noticeably harsher snare drum (& different bassist) than the rest of the album At barely 30 minutes, it plays through quick enough & maintains a variety throughout both of those albums lack.So far, I would recommend this as a starting point for any aspiring Gorgoroth listener. Incipit Satan is the earliest of theirs at a quick listen seems more accessible to the modern sensibilities, with Destroyer occupying some kind of middle ground between, to me, what made mid 90s Norwegian Black Metal great. Gorgoroth back up their reputation here.Best songs: Revelation of Doom & The Rite of Infernal Invocation

"Under the Sign of Hell",the ultimate triumph of Gorgoroth's compositions is raw, primitive, and with a sound that can be explained as souding as if it was recorded hundreds of years ago. Do not misunderstand me, Gorgoroth is certainly not simplistic, especially in terms of Infernus' guitar structures which often conjure a mesmerizing, soul devouring quality. Pest's vocals are that of a hallucinating mad man, screaming in schizophrenic evil abhorrence during one hell of a black trip. Drums are courtesy of Vrolok, the epic drummer of the mighty AETERNUS, who lays down the catastrophic tempos present on this album. Ares, also of AETERNUS provides mountainous bass rythms on "Revelation of Doom". Gorgoroth's method of creating the most grim and bleakest of atmospheres is exceedingly convincing on this record. Be advised, this band is the essence of true black evil, using a horrid and caustic expression which enables Gorgoroth to possess a unigue sound that can not be overlooked. Of cousrse, this is not the album to begin a black metal collection with. Instead, one should progress toward its extremity. HAIL GORGOROTH!

I love it. The production (Like Destroyer) is so uncompromising and brutal, and the voices are tormented and hectic, along with the buzzsaw, hoarse, guitars that Gorgoroth are famous for. Pest's vocals are quite possibly the second best I've heard (with Gaahl tying with Attila Csihar as the first- let's not get into the whole Attila vs. Dead argument, wrong band) but the drums are really what made this album. They are distorted a bit, high in the mix, and recorded in a garage, it seems, which gives them a chugging along sound, a very crunchy, percussive sound, which only benefits this album. This album uses melody where it's needed, and the melody isn't minimalist melody either; it's just demonic melody. Melody you can imagine Gorgoroth doing.Aside from that, all I have to say is WHY ARE YOU STILL READING MY REVIEW??? GO GET THIS PIECE OF PURE NORWEGIAN SLAUGHTER ALREADY!!!!

Record arrived on perfect order.

++++++!!!666!!!+++++++

Sicuramente uno degli album più importanti della storia del Black Metal. Dal punto di vista dell'edizione, la Back on Black poteva fare qualcosa di +.

Album storico, questo dei Gorgoroth, da avere per chiunque apprezzi il Black Metal.Edizione "essenziale", si poteva offrire qualcosa di più.

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