Band:	Valkyrja
Album:	The Invocation Of Demise
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	July 2007

01. Origin Reversed!
02. As Everything Rupture
03. Plague Death
04. The Vigil
05. Twilight Revelation
06. On Stillborn Wings
07. Sinister Obsession
08. Purification And Demise
09. Frostland

If you really want to screw with someone not into metal, hack into their laptop and replace the files of their favorite group with this album. Next time they want to listen to Lady GaGa they'll be treated instead to a good face-melting that will scar them. Forever.

Valkyrja excel at ferocity. Around since 2004, this group is a breath of fresh air in the, in my humble opinion, stale Swedish scene. This album melds intensity, speed, and melody in a blizzard of blast beats, crushing riffs, and well-executed leads, and isn't afraid to mix things up.

Songs like "As Everything Rupture" and "Twilight Revelation" are powerful, frenzied gusts of relentless blast beating that sweep the listener away and keep them tumbling along until the very last second. These blast beats are accompanied by some melodious leads with a dirty polish to them. Distorted enough to appeal to fans of old-school black metal and clean enough to retain their melody, the lead guitars are tremolo picked and furious enough to be a worthy companion to the blasting drums.

However, Valkyrja aren't content to just be a band that puts out 40-minute blasting fests. They're not afraid to slow it down a notch with some melodious lead moments that blend perfectly between frenzied bursts of blasting. They are like the eyes of the tornado, or perhaps the rising of the mushroom clouds after the nuclear firestorm.

"The Vigil" is a unique song on the album that needs its own special mention. Built around groovy, heavy mid-paced riffs, it wouldn't sound out of place on an old-school death metal record but somehow blends into this album perfectly. Even the guitar solo (which is more about melody than skill) fits.

Song length is varied, ranging from just under two minutes ("Twilight Revelation") to nearly nine ("Sinister Obsession"). Three of them are over six minutes, which can be a pretentious and hard-to-digest length on a blast-beast oriented album. They feature a lot of variety, however, and enough melody to avoid overwhelming the listener.

Over it all, Einride's powerful vocals dominate. Rasping growls reminiscent of Satyr's on Nemesis Divina, they feature little variety but fit the music perfectly and are strong enough to stay fresh throughout it all.

The Invocation Of Demise is black metal with enough bite and old-school flavor in it to appeal to fans of raw, traditional BM, and enough melody and frenzy to appeal to fans of modern melodic black metal. If you like any form of black metal, do yourself a favor and give this album a listen.