The packaging of the CD - an attractive white and grey, and sophistically understated, is the first hint that Gallhammer have moved on a little from their black-metal roots (which were so evident on their first demo EP) and decided to experiment a little. That this experimentation does not necessarily work particularly well is a different matter - they deserve marks for trying, and at least they don't end up sounding like the myriad other black metal acts out there (in other words, Animal from The Muppets banging on a biscuit tin, accompanied by the screams of a poodle in a blender).

The first track on the album, 'At the Onset of the Age of Despair'has a raw, deep sound to it and is surprisingly melodic. It becomes immediately obvious that Gallhammer have evolved a little more into a 'doom metal' band rather than 'black metal' although they seem to straddle both genres. The raw, searing guitar work still has more than a touch of Burzum about it and helps develop a bleakly atmospheric aura, and the vocals sound like they're being sung by someone simultaneously choking on their own blood and chewing glass - which while not exactly a pleasant experience is certainly impressive - particularly as the singer is a girl.

The song does go on about three minutes too long - an opinion I base on the fact that the same guitar riffs are repeated over and over.

'Speed of Blood' ventures further into traditional black metal territory, sounding again a little like vintage Burzum. The song is also punctuated by a great riff structure.

'Blind My Eyes' sounds different again, with more of a hard rock/New Wave British Heavy Metal groove to it - aside from the vocals, one could almost imagine it being an Iron Maiden or Saxon track. And as for the vocals themselves, there appear to be two sets - one throaty, guttural roar and another set which sound like they're being uttered by a squeaky pet toy. Gallhammer are either blissfully unaware of how hilarious this sounds or they simply don't care.

'Delirium Daydream' is quite unexpected - it has the discordant guitar and half-sung, half-mumbled vocals that instantly remind me of Sonic Youth. Gallhammer are certainly trying to be a bit different, and I would say they probably succeed.

'Ripper in the Gloom' opts for a quieter tone to begin with, with gently strummed guitar dominating the first half of the song, followed by wildly heavy black metal thrashery - probably an example of trying to be different/clever that doesn't quite work somehow. Meanwhile 'Killed by the Queen' carries on in much the same vein - in fact it feels almost like a continuation of the same song.

'Song of Fall' also starts acoustically, before venturing into ponderous, heavy doom-laden guitar work with the usual cookie-monster vocals that accompany this style.

'World to be Ashes' starts with an almost My Bloody Valentine-style distorted, atonal vibe to it, although this swiftly descends into standard slow riffery and shouting before switching back to their more experimental passage.

'Slog' is possibly the best one yet on the album, with creeping, ascending guitar riffs and an almost ghostlike mournful backing wail. Almost nine minutes long, it has a definite prog-metal feel to it.

'Long Scary Dream' is an unsettling, semi-ambient piece of work, with slow rumbling guitar in the background, together with faint screeches and screams. It makes for an interesting listen although it does feel a little like an unfinished work.

The lyrics of all these tracks are, as you might expect, utter nonsense, made more so by (I suspect) the difficulty of translating from Japanese to English. Given that it's impossible to make out the words anyway, the lyrics aren't really of any importance so deducting marks for their silliness would be missing the point.

In summary, this is certainly different to the standard black metal fare, and there are glimpses of some innovation at play amongst the various songs on offer. Overall though the album lacks cohesion and is somewhat less than the sum of its parts. Nevertheless it's a worthy effort and worth picking up if you're a fan of the genre.