Review by Sonny for Battle Dagorath - Abyss Horizons (2020)

Battle Dagorath's sixth and latest album is a monster of cosmic proportions. It consists of eight tracks spanning 73 minutes of expansive and sprawling cosmic black metal interspersed with spacey ambient interludes that serve as a breathing space to allow the listener's mind time to settle before the next interstellar journey of discovery. The theme of the album seems to be the belief that some kind of spiritual nirvana can be attained by contemplation of the awe-inspiring majesty of the universe (and who am I to disagree?) Several of the tracks, particularly the longer ones such as Phantasmal Eye of Dreams and Conjuring the Starwinds, through the repetition of their themes and the overall expansive nature of their atmosphere, do possess a certain meditiative quality to them that allows the listener to float away in a kind of out-of-body experience and forget earthly cares as they traverse this metaphorical galaxy.

The production is crisp, allowing the sound to be particularly well defined - not a single note has been lost or buried. The black metal elements are cold and harsh, the keyboards filling out the atmosphere and the vocals are distant, yet at the same time, immediate and savage. This style of black metal obviously has it's roots in Emperor's back-catalogue and you can definitely hear hints of tracks like Cosmic Keys to My Creations & Times and The Majesty of the Nightsky in Battle Dagorath's music. If you are a fan of Mare Cognitum or Darkspace's style of space-themed atmospheric black metal then this should definitely appeal.