Band:	Dødsengel
Album:	Imperator
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	April 10, 2012
A review by:	Troy Killjoy

Disc I
01. XXV
02. Sun On Earth
03. ΣΕΙΡHΝΕΣ
04. No Beginning, No End
05. Momentum: On The Devil & Death
06. Holy Metamorphosis
07. Apoph-Ra
08. Pneuma: Sidpa Bardo
09. Hymn To Pan
10. Asphyxia
11. Leap
12. Stellar Masturbation
13. The Serpent's Head

Disc II
01. Towers Of Derinkuyu
02. Upon The Beast She Rideth
03. Ascending Beyond Good And Evil
04. Your Glory
05. Attainment
06. ΚΕΦΑΛΗΑ: Sabbath Of The Goat
07. Darkness
08. The Supreme Ritual
09. XXV

The two men behind Dødsengel have been releasing some quality material under that name for a few years now, catching a bit of a break with their 2010 release, Mirium Occultum, which helped spread their name across the globe and caught the attention of a great deal of black metal fans. Imperator should achieve the same results, only perhaps more so... It would be an understatement to call this monolithic. Imperator works as an epic as opposed to "just" an album, telling a 150-minute story over two discs and using every minute effectively.

Sun on Earth: Deception XXV: The Synagogue of Satan

Occultism and hypnotic pseudo-psychedelia compose beautifully structured droning epics - a boost in atmosphere, the first chapter of Armageddon. Traditionalist elements become vastly modernized with a more adequately mastered production, polishing the experimental - yet not too adventurous - ideas into a cataclysmic snowball, a momentous story that kills and destroys all characters within.

A brisk flow keeps its audience engaged... entertained, even. Idle hands are put to work and the enormity as such an epic undertaking is put on display, careful to ensure it is absorbed by all those in its path. The differences within each sub-chapter give the impression the overall concoction is comprised of fruits gathered far and wide, charred with hate and anarchy before they become ground up into the juices of sin to be consumed by the unholiest of men. Alas, it is just another story, not to separate itself from any other. Just more detailed, longer, more expressive and opinionated, and thus more likely to entice its readers in a more dramatic fashion.

Raw anarchism may be somewhat confined, comparable to the glory days when similar stories were told by what many now claim to be pioneering authors, the likes of Fenriz and Count Grishnakh, yet the story of Imperator allows this foundation to be expanded upon in ways not seen before in the ancient texts. The most evil of words within find themselves dancing to the tune of carnal melodies, highlighting themselves among the lesser of evils, glorifying anti-creation, massacre, genocide, obliteration, annihilation, and ultimately self-destruction. Life and its significance are put to the test before the chapter comes to an end.

Darkness: Matthew pt. XXV Christ and the Law

The end begins in the same manner as left off in the previous chapter, although the words contained within are much more emphatic, as if a certain momentum has lead the author into proclaiming the right of anti-creation with more passion. Words dance less and are stained more heavily by a monstrous hand pressing down forcefully on the quill... random silences make the night seem much darker, not to mention much longer, although that is likely just a fabrication of the mind due to the inability to properly focus on the task at hand.

A book must be made, and so it is. Ever-haunting, a passage into the most sinister of thoughts, Imperator builds upon the foundations set before it by the likes of some of the most renowned authors while continuing to push deeper into the psyche, where lands before untraveled will soon become high-traffic cities to be burned down and rebuilt time and time again, as has happened in years past. Hymns of the dead and the pulsating, rhythmic tribal beating of drums signifies Armageddon is nigh. The night is dark and full of terrors... beware.