Review by Denis on April 17, 2003.

Good! That's what I said when I finished listening to "Liberation" and that's what I felt! I was actually forcing myself to listen this CD without skipping to the next song before it ends. I guess that every once and while, we reviewers are getting one of these albums that are hard to get through. Looks like I have been lucky so far...

1349 is a new Black Metal outfit from Norway. This is their debut album and lack of experience could be an explanation. First of all, they must fire and hire, since I don't see one mentioned, a producer and a good one! Really folks, the sound on "Liberation" is awful and very offensive to my ol'ears. The fuzzy sounding rhythm guitar is annoying by being way too clear, the bass is too strong, the drum sounds dry and flat and the black vocals too much in the background. This will all result in a bad trip for too many music lovers I'm afraid.

Now apparently, "Liberation" is holding very much to black metal's origin and this might be part of my problem with it and maybe all of you black fanatics will disagree with me on this one. It's ok and it is fine with me if you like this type of noisy experience. I just think that 1349 are pretty good musicians but in need of help to get, let's say, Blood Red Throne's quality for instance. Being a nice guy, I was looking for good parts to point out to and found some on 'Satanic Propaganda' and 'Liberation' in way of melodic intro, clean bass parts, slower doom sections and good industrial samplings. The main guidelines on "Liberation" are: fast, repetitive, aggressive compositions across the board and even if it sounds terrible, these guys are pretty good musicians.

Bottom Line: Looking for a producer?

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 6
Originality: 4
Atmosphere: 3
Production: 3
Overall: 3

Rating: 3.8 out of 10

Review by Felix on November 16, 2020.

Music is for the ears and not for the eyes. Normally! Yet here comes a piece of art one has to consume with both ears and eyes. Inquisition are back with one new track and the video is maybe the best I’ve ever seen. The band performs at a coast with bizarre rock formations, the cloudy sky puts everything in a sallow light and the endless sea seems to open the gates to eternity. Last but not least, the Grim Reaper is also present, but slightly disoriented. Anyway, fantastic pictures of a drum kit in the sea and a front man who performs on one of these rocks deliver the perfect visual component for a song that deserves exactly this monumental sight.

Despite the time span of five years without new recordings, Inquisition’s majestic Luciferian Rays presents a seamless follow-on to the last equally great albums of the duo. No typical trademark is missing. The demonic yet well understandable voice sings lyrics which are formed by many “usual” and “simple” words, but exactly the simplicity of the text conveys a very special form of spirituality. The musical grandeur is based on a dense sound and among other things on the fantastically miniature melodies which show up after every line of the verses. 'Luciferian Rays' is no overly extreme song and the dominating mid-tempo underlines the rather mid-harsh approach. However, it is full of passionate adoration, diabolic aesthetics and unsolved mysteries. The perfect flow of the melodic chorus (and the entire song) and the really great and profound guitar solos with their tragic and fatalistic tones add the final touch to a true masterpiece which lies in close proximity to perfection.

Two open questions remain: where the hell has this video been filmed? And, even more important: how long do we still have to wait for a new full-length? I don’t expect an album with ten or twelve killers of this kind – nevertheless, I eagerly await the successor of Bloodshed Across the Empyrian Alter….

Rating: 9.5 out of 10