1349 is a Norwegian black metal clan whose sophomore aural attack bludgeons and brutalizes, but ultimately scares the crap out of you. Never mind the face paint, the spiked wardrobe, and the overall demonic appearance, just after one listen of Beyond The Apocalypse, you'll think that evil really exists.

Slamming over your skull like a satanic steamroller, these nine tracks that comprise this disc are a true homage to the salad days of black metal, when riffs and drums pounded faster than hell as lyrical subject matter praising the devil were spewed forth over it all. Just check the Goth gone wild pace of "Perished In Pain" or the ominous intensity of "Internal Winter" for proof that 1349's pulverizing program of black metal is quite the evil entity without being contrite or overwrought. Definitely worth a spin, to those who dig Cradle of Filth, as well as those who need to be reconverted to metal.