BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: RIMFROST’S VERALDAR NAGLI ISN’T IN THE CROCKPOT, BUT IT SHOULD BE ON YOUR IPOD

If you were to ditch the corpsepaint, goofy poses, and gimmicks, but keep the razor-tight riffs, uhallowed Immortalisms, and jaw-dropping musicianship, you’d have Rimfrost. Jokes about their totally homoerotic name aside, this band is beyond competent at combining black metal’s rawness with Immortal’s, well immortal ability to write almighty riffs.

It did only take three or four years for the band (probably devout Fenriz fanatics, and if Fen hasn’t latched on to them… for shame) to follow up the Collosal A Frozen World Unknown, but holy unblackened-Christ if they didn’t do it well with Veraldar Nagli. There may not be a “Ride The Storm” moment on this full-length, but I’ll be goddamned if they didn’t up the notch on the metronome AND write tighter, faster riffs. “I’ve become what I can/At mankind’s decease /I am death incarnated,” frontman Hravn Decmeister boasts on “The Black Death.” If this is the black death, let it plague the masses.

Shit on black metal if you want, but — much like Destöyer 666 — Rimfrost has transcended boundaries and written an amazing album that’s sorta thrash/sorta black metal. Veraldar Nagli is hands down one of the best records of 2010. Riffs, raffs, and rock are in full force on this cat. You European chaps can keep that 2009 release date shit to yourselves… Us patriots didn’t get this one ’til January.

(five out five horns)

-BC