Azrael- Act III: Self and Act IV: Goat

Artist: Azrael
Album: Act III: Self + Act IV: Goat
Label: Moribund Records

This is a two disc release from Minnesota's black metallers Azrael. Released on Moribund in 2007, Act III:Self + Act IV: Goat is the bands third full-length release on the well known label. I have to say that this may be the first album on the label that I haven't been completely impressed by. The band is described as avantgarde black metal so I was expecting them to have something new and original to offer to the genre. I have to give the band credit, they did try to do things a bit differently and used a contrabass on the album. Using the instrument as best as they could, they mixed acoustic guitar passages with raspy vocals to try and create a psychedelic atmosphere. Mostly, it just came off as boring and extremely repetitive to me though. That's not to say that it was all bad as both albums had parts that were interesting, but these were few and far between. I would recommend this for fans of Dornenreich and similar bands, but for those who aren't into experimental black metal I would say that this probably isn't for you.