Band:	Nifelheim
Album:	Envoy Of Lucifer
Style:	Black metal, Speed metal
Release date:	November 19, 2007
A review by:	Herzebeth

01. Infernal Flame Of Destruction
02. Evocation Of The End
03. Open The Gates Of Damnation
04. Claws Of Death
05. Storm Of The Reaper
06. Envoy Of Lucifer
07. Evil Is Eternal
08. Raging Flames
09. Belial's Prey
10. No More Life

The word "hiatus" is a very fun word to use, here try it "?Hi-a-tus?", now it seems like Nifelheim abused and sodomized this word and this exercise way too much for the past few years. 7 years Man!!! 7 years waiting for a "Servants Of Darkness" follow-up is just a huge pain in the ass if you ask me. To tell you the truth when the band announced this new piece I think I actually said "-Nifelheim eh? uhm, I think they sound oddly familiar to me"...but well, they finally released it, the new Satan's beast found its way to freedom and it's ready to burn our churches and institutions to the ground...

First things first, "Envoy Of Lucifer" as an album sounds like a battering-ram destroying the seven gates of hell. It's fresh and really violent, it's Black Metal caressing the balls of old-school Thrash and it's waiting to blow everything in its path. So first things first - as I already said, if you haven't heard this band at all, you'll be blown to pieces when this CD reaches your player, this experience will make you sit and think how many years of your life were wasted by hearing Dimmu Borgir and whatnot...

...Now, "Envoy Of Lucifer" as a "Servants Of Darkness" follow-up makes me feel raped both physically and mentally: the band doesn't sound at all like they used to, sure they created something more aggressive and ten times more technical and polished, but we waited 7 years for that raw punch that knocked us out back in the year 2000 and I rather have constant violence injected inside my ears than atmospheres and slow intermezzos. I'm not saying they should have released the same album over and over again like many bands do nowadays, but a little respect towards nostalgia could have been very nice for their fans don't you think?

So, the record as a whole simply rocks, the structures and almost everything regarding the songwriting is really interesting and complex, the music per-se is just incendiary in every way... But I do miss the old Nifelheim very much...that's just me though, and to be honest I'm still a big fan of this band and I'm still going to see them live two months from now... with a grin on my face...

Best Tracks: "Open The Gates Of Damnation", "Infernal Flame Of Destruction", "Claws Of Death"