Norwegian deviants Carpathian Forest have always worked a strong punk element into their raw and morbid black metal, and whilst this is still evident in 'Defending The Throne of Evil' here it is accompanied by relatively crisp production and liberal use of overbearing, eerie synths. The songs all have a bouncy feel to them, consisting of a mix of punky grooves and galloping black metal overlaid with keyboard-sampled monastic voices and thick symphonic keyboards that give the music a perverse, carnivalesque atmosphere. The combination of slick, over-polished production and overreliance on backing synths gives the album a cheesy feel, but this works well in ...  Read the complete review

Carpathian Forest's most commercial album came along at the right time, when mainstream metal became entirely aware of bands like Dimmu Borgir and Emperor, bands that stretched black metal's credibility with their moves towards something a little easier to digest. Fortunately, despite its punk influence and horrendously generic, polished keyboard work, this is still a black metal album at the core, and would thus provide (similar to Dissection's 'Storm of the Light's Bane') a good entry point for metal fans interested in exploring black metal, but a little too weak-willed to delve right in to the classic works. It's certainly more worthwhile than anything released by ...  Read the complete review