Review by Rexorcist for Burzum - Hvis lyset tar oss (1994)

From an early point in his musical career, Burzum wrote the book on how to produce a good black metal album, and Hvis lyset tar oss delivers on all of the basics well enough to get by.  It mastered the cold winter aesthetic and has some beautiful melodies emitting from its dungeon synth atmosphere, and Burzum expresses his anger perfectly through his vocal delivery.  So it fits right in with traditional black metal, the depressive stuff and the winter metal people love so much these days.  However, despite mixing its ingredients well, nothing really amazed me.  On top of that, everything about this album was dethroned by the subsequent album, Filosofem, which came closer to amazement.  But if you need a good example on how black metal typically operates, check this out.