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Though not quite as good as their Swedish counter parts (Naglfar) Nagelfar are certainly competent musicians and Virus West is a very solid and enjoyable black metal album. The lyrics are all in German which lends a dark and guttural edge to the predominantly grim vocal delivery and effectively sets them apart from many of their contemporaries who choose to sing in English. Thankfully the drumming on the album varies from the constant high speed drone of some artists and while not being among the best that I have heard Alexander Von Meilenwald (The Ruins of Beverast) does give a fine performance. The guitarist/bassist (Zorn) successfully strings together a myriad of catchy melodies during the often protracted songs on Virus West which greatly contributes to its auricular appeal as repetition is a constant danger with songs breaching the 10 and 11 minute mark. However the melody is predominantly expressed through the guitar as the bass takes its common back seat position in the mix throughout the majority of the album. Zingultus (the vocalist) gives a fairly standard performance whilst varying his tone and technique enough to be interesting rather than devolving into constant irksome noise (as many grim vocals do). While production quality is generally an overwhelmingly murky subject when regarding most black metal, on this album it is not bad at all. The instruments can be heard clearly and there is not that dull or muddy quality that pervades far too many an album. Virus West was a significant surprise for me as I have not heard many German bands perform in their native tongue and I was further stunned that with a release of this caliber Nagelfar are no longer a band. This is quite unfortunate as I believe they could have potentially produced even finer quality music in the future, but you can still enjoy their hour long swansong. Highly recommended. [Editor's note: This is the 2006 reissue of the original 2001 album.]
| Tracklist |
| 1. Hellebarn |
| 2. Sturm der Katharsis |
| 3. Hetzjagd in Palästina |
| 4. Westwall |
| 5. Fäden des Schicksals |
| 6. Protokoll einer Folter |
| 7. Meuterei |
: 62:00
| Buy other Nagelfar albums |
