Review by Jack on August 28, 2002.

For all the time I have had “Requiem of the Apocalypse” in my possession I have found it almost impossible to devote enough quality time to fully appreciate the craftsmanship of Runemagick. “Requiem of the Apocalypse” is one of those records that really demands and consumes time trying to get your head around it. Usually speaking the records that take eons to review are those that you feel indifferent towards; but it is not really the case here as “Requiem of the Apocalypse” is certainly a quality disc, which has had a fair amount of work, put into it and the results are rather apparent when listening.

Winding dark death melodies and consistent doom tempos, much more credible than a lot of their death contemporaries is the sort of style that Runemagick go about. The beauty of Runemagick, however, is not so much their dark death metal, but the way they have gone about structuring “Requiem of the Apocalypse” (whether intentional or non-intentional). “Requiem of the Apocalypse” is compiled in such a way that it keeps building with each subsequent track; peaking at the start of the 8-minute scorcher; ‘Memorandum Melancholia’ and just being a very competent ride for the rest of the 20 minutes or so remaining on “Requiem of the Apocalypse”.

There is nothing really lacking too much on “Requiem of the Apocalypse” aside from a bit more variation needed from vocalist Nicklas, not that I am suggesting he does some clean vocals, he just needs to spruce up the grunts a little. I do feel that the production is a little on the thin side, which creates a reverberating sound that doesn’t sit very well for the tone of the album.

Bottom Line: This is a solid record. Much more interesting the meager death morsels that carbon copy death bands serve up, “Requiem of the Apocalypse” is an album that death fanatics will crave and the rest of us shall be pleasantly impressed with. Pretty cool.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 7
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 5
Originality: 8
Overall: 8

Rating: 7.2 out of 10

Review by Mladen on March 5, 2021.

Epic morphing into mesmerizing, complex blasting into transcendental, impenetrable becoming a monument right before your eyes, obscurity evoking triumph... Sentinel is all that. And more. As if its predecessor, II, wasn't monstrous enough, Sentinel takes Spectral Lore's style to a new level where there are even fewer rules, even more twists and turns, and the levels of savagery occasionally go beyond belief and human imagination (imagine The Ruins of Beverast and Haeresiarchs of Dis having a fight while Emperor and Deathspell Omega are too afraid to go near).

Even though at times the slow, lightless ambient bits can get too long (I'm talking "seconds too long" here) they absolutely serve the purpose of making the listener expect and try to predict what the hell Spectral Lore will do next, and unless you listen to Sentinel quite a few times, you won't be able to guess. If you do remember one bit, you probably failed to notice a small, victorious ornament on the other side of the sound spectrum.

The labyrinth of instruments leaves no blank spaces, no really relaxing moments where you can, if you listen harder, find another nuance. Act as if there is no point in trying to decipher the compositions, and they might be revealed to you.

And that's without taking the lyrics into account - partly inspired by passages from Bhagavad Gita, partly by Plato, the rest being a solid philosophy of what most of humanity is yet to realize, they deserve a special mention. By following them - or at least by trying to - along with the music things might become somewhat clearer, but until the time for that comes the only clear part will be the final, lengthy ambient aftermath.

Sentinel is one of the very few black metal albums of this kind, where artistic vision, inspiration and technical mastery don't want to know about limits. It's hard to imagine someone doing more than what this one person did... Until, maybe, the next Spectral Lore album? I'm afraid to ask.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10