Susperia

Any thoughts on this Norwegian band formed in part by former Dimmu Borgir drummer Tjodalv? Their new album, "Cut From Stone," is due out in a couple of weeks. I'm just getting my first few listens on it now, and it seems like a continuation of the direction they started on "Unlimited," which was one of my favorite releases of 2004.

In case any one is unfamiliar with the band, they started off as much more rooted in melodic black metal on their first disc, with only a slight hint of thrash coming into play, but with their 3rd and 4th release now, they are more on the thrash side than anything else in my opinion. There is some great vocal work here by Athera, and the guitarwork is endlessly catchy. In my opinion they may not necessarily bring pure originality to the metal scene, but it's their mastery of mixing past and present metal influences together that makes them a great band. What do you think?