Band:	Ragnarok
Album:	Blackdoor Miracle
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	2004

01. Preludium
02. Heir Of Darkness
03. Recreation Of The Angel
04. Rites Of Geburah
05. Blackdoor Miracle
06. Murder
07. Kneel
08. Bless Thee For Granting Me Pain
09. Journey From Life

Most fans of black metal probably already know this Norwegian black metal band. Now they are back with their fifth album "Blackdoor Miracle".

So what has changed? Well most important is that they now have a new vocalist (Høst). His vocals are very average, but nothing impressive or outstanding. Beside that, the band has also taken away Thors hammer from their logo and now they seem to focus more on Satanism and the roots of black metal. In my opinion, their current image does not fit very well with the name they once started under.

So what's the first impression on this album? Well I must say that I couldn't stop laughing the first time I saw the album cover. It features a picture of Jonth (the drummer) pointing a gun at us. It actually reminds me pretty much of hip-hoppers and all that "gangsta-culture" more than black metal.

The production of this album is not the worst, but I think it could be a little bit better. I know that the bad production is sometimes a part of the sound in black metal and it can sometimes even make it sound more "evil", and I agree on that, but sometimes when it comes to chaotic and fast black metal like this, then I prefer to have a little bit more quality in the sound.

On this album you can also hear some thrash influences which can most easily be noticed in the song Murder for example which is also, together with Blackdoor Miracle, amongst the songs that stands out from the rest of the album. This is probably the only thing that is interesting on this album, beside that there wasn't really anything else that cached my attention throughout the record.

Overall, this album reminds me a little bit of Satyricon. It is very average black metal, but nothing unique or special.