When I first spun Hundre Ar Gamal one thing popped out at me, SATYRICON! Khold’s new effort is as to be expected, yet another stab at the black n’roll path, now tried and true by Satyricon. That is to say that the tremolo picked riffs and blast beats are almost totally absent from this record. But when all is said and done Hundre Ar Gamal is a very solid release. Khold’s abandonment of the orthodox black metal aesthetic lends the songs to become much more hook and groove oriented. This point alone brings up an interesting controversy, are bands like Khold bringing black metal to the main stream? Or are they simply offering a new take on the cold ugly past of black metal? Either way its hard to argue with tracks like “Kor” or “Forrykt” that pack enough ass kicking grooves to make Pantera fans shit blood. I assure you no matter how kvlt you are when “Hundre Ar Gamal” kicks off you will not be able to help but banging your head.

But as I said before, Khold do a lot, but breaking new ground is not on that list. They are, for lack of a better term a “Satyri-clone”. Despite that they are immeasurably better at creating that catchy groove. Objectivity aside, Now Diabolical was a heap of stinking corpse paint covered feces, truly unadulterated shit. Lyrics to tracks like “K.I.N.G.” make Dimmu Borgir look serious. Khold’s refusal to abandon their mother tongue adds an esoteric element to this otherwise unsophisticated black-groove, this esoteric side are really Khold’s saving grace.

Khold are without a doubt a solid slab of neo-black metal, and perhaps an indicator of the future development of the genre. For listeners with an open mind and an addiction to hooks will feel right at home, but for those of you who cringe at the thought of black metal without blasts will not be so accepting of this album.