Review by Michael on August 16, 2022.

Here we go with the first full-length album by the French duo Vipère. After their EP Sombre Marche that was released last year they have changed their style a little bit. It is still black metal most of the time but the folk elements became much more present than on the EP. The black metal they're performing is still a mixture between some industrial BM stuff and dissonant black metal á la Deathspell Omega or Misþyrming but it isn't the sheer insanity like on the first output.

Starting with a very calm and relaxing acoustic guitar and keyboard part in 'Aspic' my first thought was that we get an acoustic album just like Ulver did with “Kveldssanger” but soon the harsh and raw black metal with a lot of double bass rolls in. The vocals performed by Saros sound like a desperate and very grim person letting out all his frustrations. But with the French language it all sounds very aesthetic and somehow warm. Despite the raw black metal sound the duo is keeping a high level of melodic arrangements in the tracks. 'La Bourgade Et Le Dandy' is a masterpiece of French black metal. Here the focus is more on old-school black metal with the typical tremolo picking and some mid-tempo drumming combined with some atmospheric synthesizer tunes. Another interesting and varied song with some hateful black metal tunes is 'Haine D'Honneur'. Here Saros sounds like a psychopathic maniac with his high-pitched screaming and the blast-beat inferno follows in the background. But again, even here they keep up with the melodies so that the song isn't sheer rage. The other tracks are also worth listening because they are composed very interestingly and with much love for details that you will discover piece by piece with every listen.

The production sometimes sounds a little bit odd however. In some parts the vocals sound a little bit reverberative like they recorded them somewhere in a small box – at least I got this sound when I listened to it with my headphones. With my stereo I didn't notice it at all so this is just a small point of criticism. Another point to mention is the very lovely artwork that the band used for the cover and for the booklet. I liked the artwork for the demo already and the paintings here are again very detailed, scary and morbid.

To sum up, the folk parts make the album quite varied and leave a bit of room to catch your breath which is sometimes necessary because vocals are very harsh and challenging and so are the often performed very hectic BM parts. All in all it is a very interesting and entertaining black metal release that shows once more the great creativity that is hidden inside of the French black metal scene.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Adam M on July 10, 2025.

This was an enjoyable album that refined the outfit’s sound into the nicely refined beast of a band that they are today.  It has a classic feel, but is also more modern than other albums of the same ilk.  Fans of older bands like Iron Maiden will find a lot to like here, but they bring a more modern flair to the game with huge riffs and epic choruses.

The musicianship is stellar with crisp guitars and very solid singing that is memorable and catchy.  This also has a nice vocal performance from Matt Barlow that is strong and stands out from the pack.  This is a very fund recording that is quite well-produced and nice to listen to overall.  It is the most pristine album ever, but fairly well put together.

In terms of flaws, the album can be fairly generic sounding at times and offers vry little to separate itself from other similar sounding recordings.  It is an album that uses a straightforward sound and this is detrimental to the album.  It could be more original and this is almost certainly negative with the work. 

All in all, this was a fun work that is one of the more notable traditional styled albums around.  It has lots of ballads which spice things up and makes this more compelling.  All in all, this was a fun album, but largely recommended to fans of the band in particular.

Rating: 7.5/10

Review by Luka on April 30, 2001.

America’s underground metal heroes deliver again. "Something Wicked This Way Comes" (what a title!) turns out to be a satisfying metal record with the usual Iced Earth trademark of just missing "something" that makes it really great. That "something" sure is "wicked" all right, hahaha. "Burnt Offerings" had it but Iced Earth seem to have lost it since then, not a good sign, I have to say. I was expecting a lot more from Shaffer and the crew after the disappointing "The Dark Saga".

OK, so the first half, or 3 quarters actually, of the CD annoy me because I keep having to press ‘skip’ on my player to avoid the boring slow, "emotional" tracks: 2. "Melancholy", 4. "Watching Over Me", 6. "Consequences" (blech!!!) 8. "Reaping Stone" and 10. "Blessed Are You" come on, what bullshit! I thought I bought a metal record. Shaffer, you tried to write a few good ballads but turns out you suck at it so how about you never do this again and stick to your mighty shredding!

On the other hand, the odd number tracks are totally fast and heavy and just rip up the phony emotions of the slow songs with rage and fury I had no idea Iced Earth possessed. 3. "Disciples of the Lie", 5. "Stand Alone", and especially 7. "My Own Savior": pure ass kickage! The first track "Burning Times" is kind of a mix between the two song types and strangely ends up annoying me even more than the slow tracks.

Count the first 10 songs as a strange prelude to the album that seems to endlessly shift from good to bad and fast to slow to the three final songs that are the very -heart- of the album: the "Something Wicked" trilogy. Halfway through the first trilogy song, the whole album picks up and whirls you around like a mad hurricane for no less than 15 minutes! The Iced Earth boys rip, shred, scream, and pound through the songs based on Egyptian mythology with a weird twist by Jon Schaffer. The Anti-Christ brings the Apocalypse from the sands of Egypt and Iced Earth are the newscast. Simply fucking amazing music, the last three songs seem to make your $20 finally worth it.

Gotta give the artists credit for the totally cool cover as well.

Bottom Line: A totally ripping metal album with a seemingly boring 40 minute intro. Nothing happens until the very end, and what a fucking end it is!

Rating: 8 out of 10