Sael epitomise the quintessential Gallic black metal band, through a desire to nudge forwards the boundaries of black metal, yet without losing any of the genre's vitality. Infusing a touch of post-Légions Noires despair atmosphere into the mix, Sael quickly draw in the listener in the opener and title track, gradually building towards an explosive climax. The remaining three songs reveal themselves to be no less frantic or dynamic.

The guitarist is not afraid to bring solos into the raccoon-faced realm, whilst the presence of a drummer marks a welcome break from the elementary backing beats and drum machines that seem to be rising vastly in popularity. The vocals are, of course, in typical black metal shrieking style, but vary quite a bit. They range from a post-Burzum shriek through to a more standard blackened rasp, depending on the tempo of the music, occasionally also venturing into some off-key clean passages. Given the calibre of the extreme vox on offer here, "Instrumental" was a bit disappointing, featuring a spoken sample during the median calm section, as if Sael were a third rate grindcore band. As good as these four lengthy songs are, I would have preferred a bit more.

An auspicious debut for both Sael and their label, for whom this is their first release.