Evil Prevails - Ancient Rites

'Evil Prevails' was Ancient Rites' first release after a demo and a couple of split recordings, and was self-financed through the Belgian band's own Fallen Angel Records. Recorded before Mayhem, Emperor, Immortal and the rest launched black wave into its second wave that proved to be definitive, this fifteen-minute recording is a nice piece of history from back when black metal didn't all sound the same, and was quite clearly struggling to find an easily replicable identity. There are clear elements of Venom's dark heavy metal style here, but Ancient Rites are innovating even at this stage, combining thrash elements and some really weird vocals from Günther, ...  Read the complete review