Review by Jack on October 11, 2001.

“Borknagar” is a damn fine and ultra-slick black metal debut, in anyone’s standards. If Emperor could have released a debut that displayed such musicianship as this... well they would be happier than they are now.

Despite “Borknagar” being reviewed 5-6 years later than its original release date, Borknagar’s debut album still packs quite a few punches that the unexpected black enthusiast might find quite thrilling.

Being a 5-6 year old album, one would expect pretty murky and muddy production values, well I would expect it anyway. However, the truth with “Borknagar” is that the production is fine for such a vintage classic. Every instrument can be heard clearly and Garm’s Ahhhhh’s!!! shines through admirably.

A point relating to Garm’s Ahhhhh’s, Borknagar were not only one of the first bands to use clean vocals in black metal, they were one of the first bands to effectively use clean vocals in black metal. ‘Dauden’ is shining example of how the cleanliness of the voice should be utilised in a black record. ‘Krigsstev’ is also a more black and white example of Ahhhhh (all Garm does in that track is ‘Ahhhhh’).

Ten tracks on “Borknagar” are interspersed so fantastically that it follows the format of rather complicated poem. Once you’ve had enough of one heavy, speed black tune along comes a lovely acoustic interlude that you can sway along in the breeze in, “Borknagar” shifts so seamlessly between movements that is a joy to be part of.

Bottom Line: Well if you are a Borknagar fanatic and fan who must own everything Borknagar has done, then their self titled album is for you. There are a lot of elements on “Borknagar” you will not find on their newer releases, the brilliant instrumental pieces and brutal speed black metal, which subsided into the atmosphere with “The Archaic Course”. Ahhhhhh!

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Adam M on December 12, 2014.

A hugely jazzy type of death metal is performed by the members of Beyond Creation. While there is an aggression to the music, the technicality is the aspect that seems to win out most of the time. The musicians are able to stop and start on a dime and layer all sorts of crazy instrumentation on top of each other.

The feeling caused by the album is sometimes splendid, but often hit or miss. When there is more form in the song-writing, the structures are tighter and the band sounds marvelous. When they’re trying to be overly technical with the passages, things tend to wander off into oblivion more often. The style is very similar the one Obscura used on their last album, Omnivium. In comparison, that album is more memorable, while this one has a more interesting jazz slant. Both are very good albums overall, but get too much credit from the death metal crowd. Albums such as Individual Thought Patterns and Unquestionable Presence are more refined than these. The level of polish in the production and quality of the performance brings the quality of Earthborn Evolution up greatly. When the album fires on all cylinders, it is quite a beast. There are plenty of moments that are intriguing throughout, such as the title track Earthborn Evolution, but the lack of cohesion brings the overall quality down a notch on occasion. The fantastic portions do win out overall and result in a pleasant listen.

Beyond Creation certainly have the talent and ambition to make a strong mark on the death metal genre. Earthborn Evolution brings a whole lot to the table for death metal, but it’s not the masterpiece or game changer that many have been making it out to be. It’s still a fascinating piece of music, however.

Rating: 7.5/10