I don't know that there is an actual track listing for this piece of art. The slip cover is black and the liner notes are non descriptive except to indicate that THE BEAST OF THE APOCALYPSE "bring forth an album divided into six acts that delve into the apocryphal texts of ancient times". I take that to mean there are six songs, so let's go with that, shall we? Grim and true indeed, mysterious to the extreme; THE BEAST OF THE APOCALYPSE have managed to make one of the most engaging, black, etherial and primeval Black Metal albums of the last decade.

The two men who have created this cacophony of sound must also be engineers, because the insert to "A Voice From The Four Horns Of The Golden Altar" is really something else: It is a perfectly cut pentagram design that folds out to expose the press release for the album. For heart and dedication, definitely an "A +".

Musically, THE BEAST OF THE APOCALYPSE take a bass heavy (?!!?) approach to their Black Metal, reminiscent of VENOM, and yet possess (or are possessed by) a seemingly irrepressible need to pepper that bottom end with enough modulated vocal and general discord so as to be seen as perhaps bastard children of VENOM and BEHERIT. And the pairing works to a stunning degree. It allows the head to nod in approval while simultaneously giving rise to the incredible urge to wear something spiky. There is a heft in these Black Metal rituals that is not at all ironic or trying to ape the aural simplicity reached by forebearers of the genre. Rather, BEAST OF THE APOCALYPSE builds on an already strong foundation to create Black Metal that is enjoyable and ripe with possibility to at any moment morph itself into a festering mess, and it is that sort of unpredictability that will keep the listener returning to this album time and again. The festering mess never happens and the band manages to keep it all together, but is always, it seems, on the verge of being possessed by the very forces which they wish to contain through their Occult Black Metal. THE BEAST OF THE APOCALYPSE have crafted a piece of art, which is the general and oft overused term in Black Metal, that is genuinely enjoyable and doesn't suffer from the general malaise of a genre overstuffed with folks trying to be more evil than thou. A strong effort, and I look forward to the next ritual.